Into the Dark
by DoubleBoxEven
Summary: It has been one year since Kagami and Konata accepted each other's love, but while celebrating their anniversary, something strange begins to occur.
1. Room with Angel

Chapter 1- Room with Angel

Life was bliss.

Everything was perfect.

Everything was beautiful...

Kagami Hiiragi couldn't help but think these things over and over as she spent her days with her lover, an energetic little Otaku who prided herself in being able to both make Kagami more annoyed, and more happy than anyone else in the world. Kagami wore a big grin as she approached the place where she would be meeting her girlfriend Konata Izumi for their date.

It was a special day for them as it marked the one year anniversary of their relationship. It was almost dusk, and the world was painted orange around Kagami by the setting sun reflecting off many windows, and the orange street lights adding in their little bit of help. The lavender haired girl happily walked along the sidewalk heading towards their meeting place at the park.

Kagami couldn't wait to see how her little girlfriend looked. She smiled inwardly and outwardly as she remembered all the great times they had had together. Thinking about how much fun they were going to have, and how much she was in love made her feel like her heart was going to burst from the warmth spreading inside it.

There weren't many people out and about, but Kagami actually liked that a little better. It meant she wouldn't have to be as restrained while she was with Konata.

The entrance to the park came into sight, and Kagami chuckled as she saw Konata in her tan pants, and Robot unicorn T-shirt.

The little blue haired girl was pacing back and forth looking around like she might be lost. If it wasn't for the confident way she carried herself Konata could be mistaken for a grade schooler. Kagami walked up behind her girlfriend, and wrapped her arms tightly around her lover, whispering into her ear, "I've got you now."

Konata squealed loudly, and shouted, "LOLICON!"

The bluenette laughed loudly as Kagami recoiled, turning red, and held her hands up defensively as Konata quickly turned, and rushed Kagami, hugging her close. The Tsundere relaxed in the Otaku's arms, Konata was stronger than she looked, and her embrace always made Kagami feel secure.

Even so Kagami gave her girlfriend a thump on the head, and said, "How many times are you going to do that?"

A big grin from her girlfriend was followed by, "As long as it works Kagamin."

Konata eyed her girlfriend who was wearing blue jeans that were tight around her butt, and a pink T-shirt decorated with a big heart on the chest. Kagami's twin tails were tied back in a pair of red ribbons Konata had gotten her for her birthday. The Tsundere blushed as she felt Konata's hands trace the curve of her hips, and gently squeeze Kagami's behind.

Konata chuckled at Kagami's embarrassment at being felt up in public, but despite that Kagami was the one who placed her hands on Konata's wrists, and held them firmly while she leaned in to give Konata a loving kiss. Kagami's tongue pressed forward as Konata eagerly accepted it, and began sucking on the tip of Kagami's tongue, pulling it deeper inside of herself.

Kagami's hand came up to caress Konata's left cheek, and Kagami saw happily that Konata had closed her eyes as she let the younger girl kiss her freely. Kagami kissed Konata for about twenty seconds before she stopped, and looked at Konata caught up in being held, still with her eyes closed. The Otaku smiled sweetly, and said as her eyes slowly opened a bit, "Hey, why did you stop?"

The lavender haired girl ruffled her Kona's hair, and said, "We have an anniversary date to get on. We'll never get anything done if we just stand here kissing."

The Otaku let an evil grin show as she said, "You mean like the 'study session' we had at your apartment?"

Kagami's face turned red as she remembered being unable to remove herself from on top of her girlfriend's body when she had shown up with the excuse of helping Kagami study. She would love to have Konata over for another night of intense 'studying' sometime soon. With the memories flooding back to her Kagami grinned, and said, "Yeah, like that."

Kona smiled back up at her girlfriend, and said, "I hardly ever get to see you anymore since you're so busy with college all the time."

Kagami could hear the note of sadness in the voice, and she squeezed Konata's left hand as she answered, "I know, I'm sorry, but it'll be worth it when I'm done, you'll see. One day I'll be able to buy us a big house, and we can be together all the time. Then we'll be happy Konata, I promise."

Kagami loved the feel of Konata leaning in against her chest, and she let her chin droop to rest on top of the blue hair below her. Konata whispered, "We don't have to have a big house, or a lot of money Kagamin. I just want to spend all my time with you."

Oh how Kagami wished she could be that wistful, but she wouldn't allow Konata in an unstable household. She knew that monetary stress was a main killer of relationships, and there was no way she was going to risk Konata over something like that. Kagami kissed the top of that little blue head, and said, "I'm going to take care of you Konata. So please be patient a little longer."

"Heh. Seems like we got all serious without thinking about it, huh," came Konata's response as she looked up happily into Kagami's eyes.

Kagami grinned back, that was Konata's way of ending the discussion. They were both ready for their date. It had been a year since the two girls had accepted each other's love. It had been two months since the first time they had made love to each other, and Kagami thought about her little girlfriend's cute noises and loving gestures constantly as she stayed in her apartment all alone.

She had declined Konata's request to move in because she knew that she would never be able to study if her girlfriend was around, and over that point they had had their first really big fight. Konata had eventually let Kagami live on her own on the conditions that they met up at least once a week.

Now Kagami was settled into college for three months, and Konata was starting to be more comfortable with the distance between them, but she still called every night to make sure Kagami hadn't burnt her place down trying to cook dinner for herself.

The two girls strolled leisurely with Konata hanging onto Kagami's right arm. They tried to limit the things they did where everyone could see, but they never bothered to try and hide their relationship from anyone despite the few bad people who were aggressive towards them. It seemed not everyone in Japan was a Yuri lover unfortunately.

Kagami felt the roughness of Konata's hand as they strolled with their fingers entwined. The smaller girl's hand had been much softer a few months earlier, but Konata was working herself to the bone with two jobs to help Kagami through her college. Kagami's own work as a waitress barely made enough to pay for her apartment. Money sent from her parents covered food and utilities, but Konata had shouldered the burden of paying for the expensive college Kagami had wanted to go to.

The Tsundere would have been more than happy to settle for a cheaper school, but Konata had known which college Kagami had set her sights on, and it hadn't taken her much time to decide she would make sure her Kagamin went to the best school, even if Konata had to completely exhaust herself for the cause.

That had made it so much harder to refuse the smaller girl's moving in, but Kagami couldn't bear the thought of all of Konata's hard work going to waste because she couldn't focus on college with the smaller girl around.

Kagami glanced at Konata's arms, they were also more toned than they used to be, and she had a tired look in her eyes, but one thing hadn't changed about Konata.

Her eyes still lit up happily every time she noticed Kagami was looking at her. To Kagami, that was the most beautiful thing about her Konata. To know that Konata loved _her_ out of all the people in the world she could have given her love to. It made Kagami feel really special every time those loving eyes rested on her.

Soon enough they had reached the movie theater that was their original goal. Apparently there was a playing of an old theatre show made into a movie, and for some reason it had really caught Konata's interest despite being far from her usual tastes. It was called "The Tempest."

As they approached the brightly lit theater it seemed like quite a few people had been drawn by the attractions. The people, many of them on dates of their own filed through the lines, hoping to get their concessions before their various movies started.

The two women moved through the lines silently, even staying together while Konata was getting her favorite candies. The blue haired girl was more than capable of getting her own concessions, but since they were separated so often now, they wanted to stay together for every second they had.

The Tsundere noticed her Otaku let out a big yawn as they finished buying their snacks, and the woman behind the concession counter handed Kagami the large drink the two would share. Of course Konata would be tired, she had worked all day, and then rushed to get ready for their anniversary date. Kagami smiled softly, considering how much this little angel must love her to work so hard, never complaining about the effort despite all the anime she was missing out on.

It still made Kagami teary eyed when she thought about how Konata had chosen _her_ over anyone else in the world. To be loved by someone completely had always been her dream, she had never expected it to be accomplished so early in her life, and the lavender haired girl swore she would build a stable future for Konata's sake.

The Otaku in question leaned on Kagami as they walked. Their tickets taken by a young man at the end of the concession lobby. It wasn't too long ago they were the same age as that boy, plowing through High School, futilely hoping those happy days spent with their friends would never come to an end. There was still a whole future to look forward to though, and the thought of every day spent with her Kona made Kagami feel like she was living through heaven.

The hallways were dark in the area past the concession lobby. The only light being the occasional cell phone, and the dimly glowing signs announcing the title of the movie playing in each theater. Kagami managed to see the names of a few couples scribbled onto the walls near the entrances of some theaters, and wondered if her and Konata shouldn't do something like that. It would be great to have something where everyone could see, announcing their love for each other.

Kagami spoke in a hushed voice as the two girls walked together, saying, "So, Konata, why did you want to come see this movie? You know there are a few anime movies playing right now, right?"

The little Otaku grinned, and said, "I don't really know, I was looking through the movies playing, and this one just stood out to me. So I really wanted to check it out. If you want to see something else though, we can just walk into a different theater, no one will ever know."

Kagami responded, "No, it's fine, I just thought this was a little unusual for you."

Konata chuckled, and said, "Didn't you fall in love with me because I'm unusual Kagamin?"

The Tsundere responded happily, "That was a part of it. Not to mention how super cute you are."

Konata flushed a tiny bit, not that anyone noticed in the darkened hallways, she still wasn't used to anyone praising her for how she looked, but when Kagami did it, Konata couldn't help but feel incredibly happy. Having her Kagami tell her she was beautiful, and that she was an amazing person...those things meant more to Konata than she could ever say out loud. Not because she was embarrassed,but because she had no idea how to word complicated feelings in a way other people could understand.

When Konata thought of how lucky she was to have a girl like Kagami. Someone who loved her for everything she was, someone who shrugged off the Otaku's flaws, and saw something beautiful buried under them, she wanted to cry. She actually did cry sometimes, the sheer joy of knowing she had someone who considered _her_ the most important thing in their life was enough to make Konata content no matter what life had to throw at her.

For the moment though, such serious reflections were a hindrance to the flow of their date, so Konata just focused on being happy with her Tsundere as they finally reached the theater, and walked in. Kona skipped ahead to the place she loved getting. Fourth row back, six seats in, and she was busy setting her snacks up as Kagami followed behind setting their drink in the cup holder between them.

The two settled in right as the dim lights faded out completely, washing the theater in blackness. For a few moments Konata felt tense, she didn't understand why, but it felt as if this darkness would never be lifted before the screen lit up bright green with the first coming attraction. Konata realized she had been holding her breath in the darkness, and released it feeling more at ease as the previews began playing.

Kagami smiled as Konata cutely tore into her candy, almost making it seem like she wanted to finish it all so she could have her snacks before they distracted her from the coming movie. The Tsundere was so caught up in watching her little girlfriend that she failed to notice the beginning of the movie, until Konata told her to pay attention to the movie.

Forty minutes into the movie, and Kagami was pissed at what had befallen the main characters. She grumped quietly to Konata, "Why are people so stupid? They just want more and more for themselves, and use excuses to step on good people to achieve their goals."

Konata had her head resting on Kagami's shoulder, and she was silent for a few moments, for some reason the troubles of the main character resonated within her, and seemed much more real than the movie portrayed them. She answered quietly, "Maybe deep down they were jealous. They deposed him yeah, but I think they just saw how he was different, and hated him for it, they never took to the time to see that a lot of times it's the differences in us that make everyone seem beautiful."

Kagami was stunned for a moment. Such a profound thought coming out of her little girlfriend's mouth was unexpected to say the least. She herself didn't even know how to begin to respond to Kona's answer. The answer made sense, especially to her, who had fallen in love with such a unique girl. Sure, many people thought Konata was weird, but that's because they didn't take the time to learn what a beautiful and loving person she was.

The movie trudged on, and Kagami followed it intently until she noticed that suddenly her shoulder felt heavier all of a sudden. Kagami glanced down, and looked into the cutest sleeping face ever to bless the Earth. A few tears rolled down Kagami's cheeks as she saw the exhausted look on Konata's face as she slept, but even so...her face was so happy, that Kagami had no doubt that what they were doing was the best possible thing they could do with their lives.

Kagami let her left arm creep around behind Konata's back, and pulled her in close, not wanting to wake her from her well deserved rest. Kona snoozed on in her peaceful dreamland while Kagami, simply thought about how much she loved this woman in her arms, movie forgotten. Such a beautiful angel, deigning to call Kagami it's lover.

Sometimes Kagami couldn't help but think that way, when Konata was at her sweetest. Sure there were times when the smaller girl seemed like Hell spawn itself, but right now she was an angel. Kagami couldn't help it, the soft breathing was affecting her as well as the mounting stress from all her intense studies.

She was lulled to sleep by the gentle sounds of her lover's breathing.

Kagami dreamed such sweet dreams, such beautiful things as her lover cried in ecstasy below her. Shouting her love for Kagami to the heavens, and daring anyone to challenge the right that happy voice had to spread its message. Sure, the neighbors could complain about the noise, but if they knew Konata like she did, and had her all alone, the same things would probably have happened in their apartments, so Kagami couldn't bring herself to care about their complaints.

Kagami finally collapsed wearily next to Konata, both breathing heavily, and covered in sweat from their loving. She kissed the smaller girl weakly, the kiss made sloppy by their weariness. The moment was perfect, life was heaven. She had just made her Konata her woman. The memory was her most cherished one as to her it marked the day they had given to each other both their bodies, and their souls. Forever bound in the pleasing acts they performed on each other.

Some may say the actions lewd, some may call them "Natural Urges," but when the two women who loved each other joined bodies, it was more than that. It was something beautiful that only they could do for each other. The highest expression of their love. Through those actions they managed to tell each other what neither could say in words.

Kagami lay beside her love, squeezing Konata's right hand in her own left. She moved her mouth to Konata's ear, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Kagami awoke to darkness. Not simply the absence of light, but it seemed what light there was lent the darkness its form. As if the dark could only exist _because_ the light chose not to shine through it. Small bits of light on the ceiling showed stage lights, two of them shining a dim blue light onto the stage area and before her where the theater screen should have been was a large dark red curtain.

She didn't understand what was happening. Surely she had fallen asleep in a theater, but not a theatre of this sort. She quickly hugged Konata close to her, at least her baby was still there. Kagami was scared, this darkness was pressing in on her. She could feel the soft plushy seat beneath her, the same one she had fallen asleep in to be sure, and Konata's to her left.

To her right, Kagami reached her hand out blindly, and found...nothing...no seat to her right. She stretched her legs in front, and they came into contact with nothing, even though they hadn't been sitting in the front row. Except for their two seats, the floor around them was completely bare. Her breathing was now coming in short gasps, those seats were bolted to the floor, there was no way someone could have come in and removed them all without waking Kagami and Konata.

Her mind ground to a halt as she realized what really frightened her. The sheer sense of nothingness washed over as she felt panic beginning to creep its way into her mind. She had been raised outside a very large city, she had become accustomed to the crowds, so this was probably the first time she ever heard that noise.

Kagami Hiiragi held her lover close to her, and whimpered. What she heard was...absolute silence. Then...when she was about to lose it, when she thought she was just going to scream in order to break the nothingness, and bolt off into this oppressive darkness, she finally heard something.

Like the sweet whisper of an angel making its way teasingly into her ears, and reverberating beautifully. The vibration driving back the insanity that threatened to claim her in this foreign realm. She heard her lover's peaceful breathing. Konata was still in her exhausted sleep.

Kagami was scared out of her mind. Her logic told her to leave this place, but her instincts told her this darkness was something to be feared. To be revered even. It pressed in, and muffled even her thoughts, but her Konata was still blissfully unaware of the change that had suddenly come over the world. The lavender haired girl, wept silently, knowing her world had gone to Hell deep down in her soul, but for now, she stayed put.

Even if life suddenly became Hell, even if she could feel her whole world was beyond her reach, and she was all alone. Her Angel could be spared that torment at least for a short while longer.

* * *

><p>Author's note: Hello! It's been quite a while, but I'm back with a fun little project. I don't expect much traffic since Lucky Star is supposed to be light and fluffy, and I doubt many people are interested in this kind of thing, but mainly this is a project just for fun. I'm writing it as sort of practice in my spare time, what little I have of it lately.<p>

I'm working 60 hours a week right now, so don't expect regular updates. I'm actually hoping I can manage one chapter a month right now. Anyways, I'd love to hear what anyone who reads this thinks, good or bad, because as I said, this is pretty much practice to refine my writing style. It's for fun, and hopefully when I get more time available I can get back to the stories I would like to write, but don't have the time to do well at yet.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Trapped?

Chapter 2- Trapped?

Where were they?

How much time had passed?

Why were they even here?

These questions floated through Kagami's mind as she held Konata close to her. The smaller girl had begun stirring a few minutes earlier, but she wasn't quite ready to wake up completely. The Tsundere wanted to wake her up, she wanted to be the one being held, she knew Konata could make her feel safe, the smaller girl always made her feel safe.

The softness of her seat, and her lover contrasted sharply to the feeling coming out of the darkness all around Kagami. It could almost make her laugh feeling the warmth and comfort of her lover, and the sheer emptiness of the darkness around them. The younger girl was afraid if she started laughing though, she might not ever stop.

It would be much better to just wait for her lover to wake up than to try and reason anything out. Her mind wasn't working properly, it was as if the mental gears that drove her thoughts were just barely grinding along, and Kagami couldn't bring herself to do or think about anything that distracted her from the comfort of the one in her arms.

The silence suddenly shattered.

"Don't ever..."

Konata was muttering in her sleep.

That wasn't unusual in itself, but after the utter nothingness assailing Kagami's ears for what seemed like years, it seemed much louder than a mutter.

Finally Kagami's mind shifted into its proper gear as she immediately pulled out her cellular phone. The light was almost blinding as it blinked to life, and showed her to have no signal at all. The motion jolted Konata who was held by her left arm, and the smaller girl yawned, and opened her eyes, still in the numbness of having just woken.

Kagami whispered to her, "Konata, check your phone."

"What time is it? Is the movie over," came Konata's response in a whiny tone as she was shushed.

Konata seemed to pick up on the situation from Kagami's panicky tone, and lack of surroundings. She pulled out her cellular phone, and whispered back, "Looks like it's almost two in the morning. We really did it this time, huh? Looks like they packed the whole place up."

Kagami couldn't believe it. She was so relieved suddenly she felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes. She was annoyed with Konata. Even if something was obviously wrong with this place, at least her Konata was still the same. Kagami could hardly make out the smaller girl's features in the incredibly dim light, but the smaller girl was definitely there.

Kagami felt Kona's arms wrapping around her, and pulling her in, whispering, "It's alright Kagamin. Just calm down we just fell asleep, and they didn't notice us, okay? All we have to do is walk out."

The blue haired one was noting their surroundings fairly quickly despite the sluggishness of recently awakening still being present. She too felt something was wrong with this place, but that was overpowered by her instinct to protect her Kagamin. Konata felt only a small bit of relief as Kagami's breath slowed down to its normal rate while she was being held close.

Konata checked her phone again after Kagami was calmed somewhat, and saw no signal, that was probably what Kagami had wanted her to see. She also saw that the time hadn't changed in the few minutes she had been calming Kagami down. This was weird, really weird, the little Otaku began to feel the first tinges of fear setting in, but she forced them down reminding herself if she wasn't strong for Kagami the situation could get a lot worse than it really was.

Konata squeezed Kagami's hand and the younger girl gasped as the Otaku suddenly stood up, and said clearly, trying to show Kagami that she wasn't afraid, "Come on Kagami. Let's go."

Konata smiled, although it wasn't bright enough for Kagami to tell.

Kagami's mind was in hell as it was suddenly rushing through all the thoughts it should have properly gone through from the time she first woke up. She wasn't as panicky now, but she stayed silent as Konata told her to rise, and just obeyed as her mental gears shifted up, and she started trying to figure out what this place was.

The size of the room was wrong. They were too far back from the stage area, this wasn't where she had fallen asleep at all. The only similarities it seemed were the two seats which were definitely the ones they had fallen asleep in, but she couldn't figure out how they had been moved.

Sure there were more than a few people who didn't like them, but none of them could set up a joke as elaborate as this one. Kagami felt Konata pulling her hand as she led Kagami away from the seats and towards the room's exit. Her first thought was that she had to be ready to protect Konata. That one calmed her a lot. For the Otaku's sake she would be able to work a lot more diligently towards a solution than she would be able to for herself.

Kona noticed the shift in Kagami's behavior back to something she was more familiar with. She had seen this side of Kagami before. This was the Kagami that wanted to protect her even if it meant hurting herself. That particular side of Kagami always worried Konata since she knew her Tsundere was apt to do something without thinking it through properly. Konata was the one who acted without thinking usually and she needed Kagami there to keep her in check. If that balance was upset they didn't work together so well.

Konata felt her love's hand tighten on her own, and with her free left hand, she switched the flashlight on her phone on, hoping to find a light switch somewhere. She had no luck, and the pair quickly and silently moved away from the curtained area seeking the exit in the rear. Konata found herself for some reason hoping they could just leave. Why hope for it though? There shouldn't be anything stopping them from walking right out of one of the fire exits if the front door wouldn't open from the inside.

They reached the back of the stage room after just a few moments, and Konata pushed the bar on the door, swinging it outwards easily, and the two girls found themselves in a dark hallway. The light from Konata's phone did very little to illuminate the gloom. As they exited the stage room, they entered a dark hallway.

The pair could see the signs of the other movies playing hanging above the theater entrances, but none of the signs were glowing with their usual dim light. No lights at all seemed to be on, but Kona told herself that's probably just because it was almost two in the morning despite her cell phone saying time had stopped.

The tiny bit of light emanating from the Otaku's phone illuminated dust floating through the air, and sitting heavily on everything around them. It looked as if nothing had passed through this place in years rather than hours.

If Konata remembered correctly they would need to go left when they exited their theater, and take the first right to head into the lobby. From there they should just be able to walk right out the doors, but if not, there was a fire exit to their right they could try. Konata would much rather get out without setting off the fire alarm though.

Kagami whispered, "Let's get out of here Kona. This place really gives me the creeps."

Konata nodded. She seconded that statement. The place was off, and not just because they had woken up in a theatre with a stage instead of a screen, but everything just felt weird here. It was a little too hot, the air seemed thick, and her breath came slightly less easy than normal. Her stomach was knotted up with nervousness even though Konata had never been afraid of the dark, she had actually welcomed it for most of her life up to now.

They pressed forward leaving the first trail of footprints through the dust on the floor, their steps thudded dully on the carpet as they walked quickly towards the turn in the hallway creeping ever closer. The turn was located in the center of the long hallway, and as soon as they rounded it they were looking out at blackness. Kona's light didn't pierce through far enough to illuminate the lobby.

They could make out the restroom signs which were located just before reaching the lobby though, meaning they had come to the right place. Kona saw scribbled on the tiled wall leading towards the men's restroom on her right hand side and arrow with "To Hell" written below it, and pointing in towards the men's restroom.

The Otaku chuckled, startling Kagami, and causing her gasp to break their tense silence. Konata had pictured someone scribbling that on the wall after the restroom had turned out to be particularly messy one day. Kagami gave the smaller girl a glare for scaring her, but didn't say anything as the two pressed forward into the concession lobby.

All they should need to do is walk to the other end, and exit the building, but for some reason Konata had to keep reminding herself that there was another way out with the fire exits. For some reason the thought of having an alternate path gave her a lot of comfort.

While they walked the floor changed from soft carpet to the easily swept ceramic tiles of the concession lobby causing their hurried shuffle to become a steady tapping. As they walked Konata's phone only illuminated about three feet in any given direction, and it made them feel as if the tiny light was the only thing that existed in the world.

Suddenly a movie panel display for a coming attraction loomed up on their left side, letting them know they had reached the halfway point of the lobby. Both girls already knew something was wrong though. They both figured they would have been able to see street lights outside when the lobby came into view, but nothing lay before them except for darkness.

Their tiny island of light amidst the world of darkness suddenly seemed to shrink as they reached the end of the lobby, and their exit was illuminated before them.

Konata felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw steel shutters lowered down on the outside of the exit doors. She doubted they should even be there, but she turned to Kagami, and said as calmly as she could, "Looks like we'll have to go back down the hallway and use the fire exit then. I was hoping not to sound any alarms, but we really don't have a choice this time, huh?"

Kagami winced at Konata's voice suddenly breaking the eerie stillness again. She was going to have to stop jumping at every sound, but still the voice comforted her. It mad her feel less alone in this place, like their voices were somehow challenging the darkness pressing in all around them. Kagami squeezed Konata's hand, and responded quietly, "Yeah, you're right. Let's go back, and try the fire exit."

The squeeze had been meant to reassure Konata. Kagami could see in the dim light the scared look her girlfriend had, even if she was trying to hide it. Konata may be a night creature naturally, but there was nothing natural about this darkness, and both knew it.

They started back, retracing their steps until they could see the display of the coming attractions again. It was at this time they heard a metallic clang coming from the void off to their left on the other end of the room.

They both froze quickly, neither one daring to even breathe as they listened tensely. After about a minute of standing there, Kagami whispered in Konata's ear, "Let's get moving. I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to."

Konata looked back at her girlfriend, and asked equally quietly, "You don't think we should check the noise out? There could be someone else here."

The Tsundere shook her head in disapproval of the idea. She wasn't even slightly curious as to what was making noise in a dark room without calling out to them. Sure the silence had settled back in, but the one break in it had been far too distinct for either to believe they had imagined it.

As Kagami thought about it, in such darkness, she deduced that they would probably stand out like a beacon even with such a dim light source for anything in the dark. That thought had been unwelcome. Kagami just had to think the word any_thing_. It was a ridiculous thought, but she was way too weirded out to even bother assessing the ridiculousness of it. She just wanted to leave, and get Konata out of this place as soon as possible.

Suddenly taking care to make as little noise as possible the two lovers began moving back down the path they had come from. The noise didn't repeat itself the entire time they were in the lobby. It was only a minute before they were back in the narrow hallway that ran the length of the back of the theater building.

Both of them knew there was a fire exit on each end of the hallway from there, and they were directly in the center of the hallway. Neither exit sign was glowing at the ends of the halls where they should have been illuminating salvation, and escape, but the girls decided to press on back in the direction they had come from, not wanting to explore new territory while they still had a choice about it.

When they turned left, and headed back the way they came, at about the halfway point of the hallway, they noticed the dim blue light of the stage lights in the room they had awoken in creeping under the door. If those dim little lights were so obvious in the dark, Konata shuddered to think how visible they were.

She imagined thousands of faces just outside her little three foot pool of light staring in at her, waiting until her light faltered so they could make their way inwards. For all she knew it could very well be real. Outside her pool of light, she had no vision, the light she carried ruined any chance of her eyes adjusting to this gloom, but the blue haired girl found herself wondering how long her battery would hold.

She glanced at her phone display to see she had a full charge, and it relieved her, but the time still hadn't changed from One Fifty-Seven in the morning on the clock. She really hoped that was just some network error resulting from her having no signal.

The two girls walked quietly past the theater they had awoken in, only slightly tempted to go back in to the room that was infinitely brighter than this one. It took another minute for them to reach the end of the hallway, and find their fire exit door.

Konata pushed on the bar, sighing in relief when she felt it push in easily, but that was the end of her relief as even when she pushed the door didn't budge outward at all. That was it, the bar pushed in, and the door didn't budge. Konata turned to Kagami for a moment with a helpless look on her face. Konata didn't want to be here anymore. The tiny bit of excitement she had felt at something so out of the ordinary happening had faded away completely.

She just wanted to leave, and go back to Kagami's apartment, and maybe have a round of intense lovemaking before passing out for the night. The Otaku suddenly rammed the fire exit with her shoulder as hard as she could only to bounce off. After she repeated the motion five or six times she sagged to the ground with her back against the unmoving door as Kagami sat down next to her, and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl.

They sat that way for a few minutes in silence until Konata muttered, "What are we going to do Kagamin? I don't want to stay here until they open up the morning. I want to go home."

Kagami let her head rest on Konata's shoulder, and responded in a whisper, "Well, we still have one more fire exit to try. It's just on the other end of the hallway. Keep it together Konata, there's no way a business would be allowed to operate if there was just no way out of their building, so we'll keep looking until we find an exit."

Kagami's words soothed the smaller girl a bit, and she smiled over at her love, sorry for making her worry any more than this situation had already. Konata responded back, "Yeah, let's go check it out, and also this building's two stories tall. I remember seeing a stairway going down the side on the outside, so maybe we'll find a way out upstairs."

Kagami nodded, and said, "Now you're thinking. I had forgotten about that. See we'll get home, so don't worry."

The Tsundere stood up first, and held out her hand to her lovely little Otaku, who accepted it, and was lifted to her feet. As Konata stood up she felt something warm and wet placed against her lips, and instantly began pressing her own back. She didn't have an urge to get her tongue involved in this since it really wasn't the time for such things, but Konata still hugged Kagami tightly, and whispered, "Thanks."

Kagami just ruffled Kona's hair in response. Both were thankful they didn't have to be alone in this place.

The trek back was a short one, after her kiss, Konata was feeling much better, she had even thought a few times, if she was going to be stuck alone in a place except for one other person, she was really glad it was Kagami. She was so glad it wasn't somebody like Yutaka who probably would have already fainted, or her dad. She was really grateful she didn't have to worry about him.

They soon reached the middle point looking out into the lobby, and quickly moved past, both remembering the noise they had heard in that direction. On the way to the other fire exit Konata tried the doors to the other theaters, but all of them were in a similar state to their fire exit. At the end of the hallway though, their hopes were dashed as they met with a similar fate at the second fire exit.

They stood beside the sealed escape route, and discussed their next plan of action. Neither knew where the stairs to the second floor were, so they would actually have to search. Kagami deduced the most likely entrance to the second floor to be right by the bathroom and lobby, or maybe somewhere behind the concession counters that lined both sides of the lobby.

Konata didn't want to explore the lobby, neither did Kagami, but both knew they would end up back in that area. Konata playfully poked Kagami, and said, "What's the matter Kagamin? You're not getting all frightened on me are you?"

Kagami nodded in response, and Konata's playful attempt at making them both feel better faltered, but she still had enough resolve to say, "Don't worry then. You know I can protect you from anything, right?"

Kagami nodded again, she knew it, she really did. Kagami remembered well Konata dropping a guy with a quick kick to the stomach, and a follow up to his head as he bent over when he had threatened Kagami in the street. Konata was strong, as far as physical ability went she was higher up than the Tsundere, and Kagami knew it.

Kagami squeezed Konata's free arm, judging the muscle in it, and the hardness of the smaller girl's arms relaxed her a bit. Only a little bit though. It had already been proven neither of their muscles were going to get them out of here. Konata pulled Kagami towards the lobby, now washed over with a sense of anticipation, and even a little dread.

They would explore the area immediately outside the lobby first, but if they didn't find stairs, Konata had made up her mind to go ahead and check out the entire lobby before she began searching for the stairs. That way she could confirm that they were really alone. She was tired of her imagining things just outside their pool of light.

Konata was ready to do away with this feeling of being watched. They hurried back towards the bathrooms while following the left hand wall. Konata noticed as they passed a small display of all the movies currently playing, a showing of "The Tempest" was scheduled for Two O'clock. She mentally filed that away for later, not knowing Kagami had done the same.

During this time Kagami had been busy looking at everything. It was obvious to her now that no one had been here in ages. As they crept towards the center of the hallway, the dust lining the walls, and the undisturbed dust on the floor proved this place had been long abandoned. One thing she couldn't figure out though was _where_ exactly they were.

The Tsundere was sure the only reason there was even dust in the air was because they had disturbed this long abandoned place, and yet, there was still this feeling of...something else. She just had this feeling that her and her Otaku weren't alone in this place.

They reached the center area, and looked out into the void that was the concession lobby. They searched along the walls near the bathrooms without actually going into the bathrooms themselves but they found nothing of help there.

The two lovers then gathered their courage as they looked at the wall of black just outside their little haven of illumination, and stepped out into the concession lobby once again. This time they didn't head right down the middle though, they followed the tan dust covered walls to the left, hoping to find an entrance to a stairwell that would lead them upward.

Kagami noticed there were claw marks near the floor where the bottom of the wall was carpeted. It looked like either rats or maybe a cat had been scratching on it. She shuddered as she imagined a cute little kitty stuck all alone in this place with no one to feed it...Or love it.

It dawned on Kagami quickly they were checking out the opposite side of the lobby from where they had heard the noise first. Kagami couldn't blame Konata for that. She didn't care what the crashing noise had been. She wasn't at all interested in what could have caused it, and she hoped they didn't even have to go that way, but deep down she had a feeling they would.

Kona gasped loudly as a set of bulbous eyes suddenly loomed up on her left. She stumbled backwards away from the creature quickly, pulling Kagami with her who's heart had started racing. They stood there for just a moment. Just far enough back that they couldn't see the eyes of the creature that had been there a moment ago anymore.

Konata's hand was shaking in Kagami's grip but the little Otaku held her phone up high, and illuminated the thing's eyes once again only to realize it was a poster for a monster movie. The sigh of relief from both of them was audible as it whispered across the lobby, making Kagami think that in this silence even the slightest noise probably traveled quite a distance.

Kagami's phone suddenly caused her to shout as it began ringing. An anime tone Konata had set on it for one of their friends. The Otaku said excitedly, "It's Miyuki! Answer it! Tell her what's going on!"

The sudden noise seemed a cacophony after the quiet pervading the area for so long, but Kagami answered the phone saying in a still somewhat frightened tone, despite the relief at getting a phone call from a friend, "Hello? Miyuki-chan? Is that you?"

The response came quickly though filled with static.

"_You are correct Kagami-san. In the matter of sensory thresholds humans are actually surprisingly sensitive. In complete silence a human is capable of hearing the tick of a wristwatch from up to twenty feet away. They are also capable of seeing the flame of a single candle from miles away in perfectly clear conditions. It's really quite fascinating."_

The call went dead as the static filled voice of their adorable Miwiki faded away.

Kagami remembered the line. They had had that discussion in their second year during a study session when their Biology class was doing a project on sensory thresholds. After the sound of the phone was gone, the silence seemed even more overbearing, almost as if it were angry at being broken.

Konata nudged Kagami, and said, "C'mon...let's just get going."

Both were disappointed, they had both known if anyone would be able to think of a way out of this place it would be Miyuki. The younger but much more intelligent girl had always been able to help them when they really needed it, but it seemed now her knowledge was being thrown in their faces.

Still...that information was peculiar. Right when Kagami had been thinking along similar lines. Also what was a conversation from years ago doing suddenly playing out of her cell phone. Kagami was confused, but it made her suddenly wary about how much light they were using, and how much noise they had been making. If there really _were_ something watching them, it would be a simple task for it to keep track of them this way. Perhaps they should consider dimming their light a bit, but it was already so hard to see, and Kagami didn't want to say it out loud, but it made her feel much safer.

The two young women reached the entrance to the back end of a concession bar a few moments later, and they crept around behind it. This was a likely place to find at least _something_ of use, maybe even a phone they could call out on.

Their tiny light illuminated shelves full of ancient candy waiting to make someone sick if they actually tried to eat it. There were a few cash registers as well, and it was pretty tempting for them to try and open one, but neither wanted to make a whole lot of noise or really steal anything, right then both were just focused on getting out of there.

"Look at this," Konata whispered suddenly as she lifted an old piece of notebook paper out of the dust on the little work shelf located behind the customer counter. The Otaku illuminated the page as both quietly read it.

_To Jun_

_Look, I know you've never run the projector before, but I have_

_to leave early, and really it's a piece of cake._

_All you have to do is head up the stairs on the other side of the lobby,_

_check the lights real quick in the projector room,_

_sometimes those lights don't want to dim down,_

_but there are sliders for them on the left hand wall._

_The power switch is on the bottom of the projector, it should already be on._

_Once the movie credits finish rolling all you have to do is hit the reset button to begin playing_

_the movie again. Just start the movie at the right time, and walk away, piece of cake._

_Don't forget to turn off the projector before closing up tonight._

"So the stairs are on the other side, huh?" whispered Konata.

Kagami responded quietly, "Seems that way. I had a feeling they would be."

Kona nodded her head, and looked at Kagami seriously before she said, "Don't be scared Kagamin."

The Tsundere squeezed her lover's hand tight, and turned to face the opposite end of the lobby. Somewhere over there was the upstairs entrance. Somewhere upstairs was the exit, and their ticket to freedom. Kagami took in the tension, and started when Konata's phone beeped.

The little Otaku looked at her display to find the time had changed to One Fifty-eight.

At least it seemed time wasn't frozen after all.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Alright, well hopefully that wasn't too bad. I'm still new to this kind of writing, but as I said, it's done just to improve my style, and I have to admit thinking about what I'm going to do with this story has been quite a bit of fun, so hopefully you all will like it. I typed this up in a hurry so there may still be some errors in it, if you see them please point them out so I can make sure not to make the same mistakes over and over. My hope is to get better by writing this.<p> 


	3. The Glutton

Chapter 3-The Glutton

Neither girl moved immediately. Konata could almost feel the adrenaline as it began pumping through her. Her hands quivered a little, and she looked up to Kagami who seemed to be in a similar state. It was a wonder they couldn't hear each other's heartbeat shattering the silence with incessant pounding. Konata nodded at Kagami, and began walking back the way they had come. Kagami walked beside her as they reached the spot where they exited from behind the concession counter.

The stairs were just on the other side, right by whatever had made that noise earlier. Now they had no choice but to either investigate, or cower in this darkness until morning. If morning ever came seeing as how slowly time was moving according to Kona's phone.

The two girls stepped back out into the lobby, not bothering to even glance back towards the hallway they had originally come from. They quickly passed the opening, and reached the entrance to the other concession counter.

Konata stepped around the counter first. Kagami was right behind her. Slowly Konata lifted her phone up over head hoping to expand their little pool of light, but it didn't help much. Sure the light moved further out, but it was less focused, and didn't reveal any details. A slight sweat broke out on Konata's brow as she slowly made her way forward keeping a lookout for any doors that might lead to this stairway she was looking for.

After twenty or so steps towards the front of the building they came across a cash register on the floor. It had a very large dent in it, like someone had just stomped on it. Now they knew what that metal noise had been, what they did not know was what had smashed the thing.

The two tiptoed around the smashed register, hoping not to run into whoever had smashed it. They quietly made their way forward. Paying attention only to the steps in front of them, they had come from a wall so there was no way something could be behind them without them noticing meaning whatever had smashed the cash register was either directly in front of them, or it had gone up the stairs...or it was wandering around the lobby somewhere. Maybe closing slowly in on the light that beckoned it.

Kona shook those thoughts from her mind until she saw a dark stain on the floor. It was black, but she felt sick as she recognized dried blood in her pale phone light. Soon a boot came into her vision followed by a leg, and a body wearing the attire of the people who worked at the theater they had fallen asleep in.

Konata's heart was beating over nine thousand beats per minute as she gasped, and drew back, causing Kagami to squeak in surprise as she suddenly got a look at the corpse as her little girlfriend drew back. She hugged Konata close, quickly putting herself between Konata and the corpse. Kagami felt the taste of bile in her throat as she looked at the holes in this man's body

A small bit of panic could be felt making its way back into her mind. This was no longer some bad dream. This was real, there was a dead man in front of them, and it was likely that if they weren't careful, they could end up right alongside him.

Kagami had to keep control, just like Konata did though. They may have each gone into a blind panic by themselves, but they could stay strong for each other's sake if they had to. Kagami hugged Konata tightly turning away from the dead body. Their embrace lasted a moment before she released her little Otaku, and faced the corpse again.

There were little pinprick holes all over the front of him, but in some places there were small cup like indentions perfectly making half spheres cut out of his body. Kagami couldn't think of a single weapon she had ever heard of that could make wounds like that, not that she was an expert in that field, but the wounds were eerie. Another thing she noticed was that this man had been here for a while. Not only was all the blood coagulated, but there were spider webs coming off his body attached to the wall behind him. This man had _definitely_ not been killed recently, there wasn't even any stink from decomposition.

Kagami felt Konata pull away from her as the smaller girl once again moved to the front. Kagami had an urge to pull the smaller girl back, but she couldn't do it. She was strung between deciding if an attacker were more likely to come from the front or the back. There was no way to know for sure she was saving Konata or putting her in more danger by leading.

Kagami decided to just stay close to her love...very close.

Kona looked at the body closely for a few moments before she said, "His name tag says Jun."

Kagami felt a little sick, thinking this was more than likely the man that note on the other side of the lobby had been left to. Kona looked at Kagami, and the Tsundere saw Konata's bottom lip tremble a little with sadness. The blue haired girl quickly shoved her emotions behind her normal mask though, and said, "I wonder if he started that movie on time?"

"Don't make jokes Konata." Kagami said as her stomach turned a little at her girlfriend's dark humor.

The smaller girl quickly shrugged, and turned away from Kagami, and began advancing onwards. The narrow space made Kagami a little claustrophobic. There were counters on both sides of her, only one way forward which was blocked by Konata, and only one way back.

Another forty steps and Konata made a squeaking noise as her and Kagami noticed at the same time a door loom out of the darkness. There was a gold plaque located on the center of the otherwise plain door that said simply, "Stairs"

Here it was. The door they were looking for. After this any slight familiarity with this place would be gone. They knew the layout of the movie theater first floor because they had seen it when it was lit up, but neither of them had ever worked in a movie theater before, they didn't really have any clue what the layout of the top floor would be like.

Konata reached out, and turned the knob, half expecting it to be locked, but the knob turned all the way, and opened easily albeit with a small cloud of dust. The two girls quickly moved forwards into the tiny stairwell advancing straight ahead. The door closed almost silently behind them, although Kagami could swear she heard a whisper before the latch quietly clicked, and left them in the stairwell.

"What a great way to kick off exploring new territory," Kagami thought to herself thinking horrible thoughts about that whisper coming from the dead man they had left below.

As for the stairwell itself, it was rather plain. White walls with blue carpeted stairs led up to a landing just above them. The small area had no decorations at all, in fact the plainness of the room sort of reminded Kagami of a hospital.

Suppressing the downward spiral that was her train of thought Kagami instead focused on Konata who was about to open the door to the upstairs area. The little Otaku's hand trembled visibly as she clutched the knob and turned it easily. A moment later she pushed outwards, and the door moved silently, allowing them passage.

On the other side of the door, the light spilled out softly from Konata's cell phone, just giving enough illumination to show this was a hallway. The dusty stillness was still prevalent through the area though, so Kagami and Konata harbored no hopes of suddenly finding someone who actually knew what was going on.

As the two girls entered the small hallways, they heard another sound like metal crashing from below them. It originated from downstairs near where they had just been, and Kagami shuddered as she closed the door to the hallway, not wanting to consider what this second metallic noise had been. Really not wanting to consider that if they had been just a little slower, they probably would be looking at whatever had made the noise.

With the mounting tension, and growing paranoia in the Tsundere's mind, she calmed herself by thinking she had imagined it, she wouldn't forget the noise, but it was at least a little soothing to push it to the back of her mind, and not have to face it immediately.

The lavender haired girl's attention was brought back to reality by Konata's movement. She had picked a door just to the left of the one they had entered through. Her hand was already on the knob when Kagami put a reassuring hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. The contact made Kona freeze for just a moment, but after a deep breath her hands stopped shaking, and she opened the door.

The door swung inwards, and Konata's light bleakly illuminated a plain room with a desk covered in paperwork. This was probably a manager's office. Konata took two steps into the small room, and looked the place over carefully. Kagami was right beside her. There was a moment filled with hope as both girls noticed a window behind the desk, but they realized after a couple steps towards it that the window was blocked by steel bars.

Even so they looked out the window, wanting visual confirmation of the freedom awaiting them just outside the building. Unfortunately it was too dark outside. They couldn't even make out a street light in the gloom. The darkness was so complete it made the Tsundere wonder if maybe the whole world was gone, and they were just floating in some twisted remnant of their Earth in space.

Konata muttered, "Looks like the city didn't pay the electric bill."

Kagami wrapped an arm around Konata's waist, and held her close as they stared out into the darkness. Kagami wouldn't say anything about Kona's jokes. Those were her way of coping with the situation, just like Kagami refused to think about what could possibly be going on. She needed to just focus on what was immediately in front of her, and keeping Konata safe.

After a few minutes of standing there in silence, wondering where their world had gone, the two girls finally stepped away from the window. There would be time to figure it out once they made it out of this place.

The manager's office was useless to them. It held no exit or even the hint of one. The girls withdrew, closing the door behind them. Finding themselves in the same dimly lit hallway as before with two more options for doors to go through besides the one leading back downstairs. One door was at the left end of the hallway from where they stood, the other door was at the right.

Kagami by instinct began leading Konata to the left. Their footfalls thudded lightly on the carpeted floor, and Kagami's shadow loomed in front of her, cast forward by Konata's light. It was only now that Kagami wished she had bought a phone with a flashlight feature. The lavender haired girl was aware the Konata was almost right beside her, but just a little behind as she moved forward to clutch the metal door handle

It turned with a little creak, and Kagami pushed the door open. As expected silence greeted them, but what wasn't expected was the mess in the hallway. It was almost completely wrecked. There were broken up school desks, overturned shopping carts, wheelchairs and hospital gurneys, and just all kinds of junk strung everywhere.

The two lovers were still for a few moments just looking at the mess illuminated by their dim light. It looked like the jumble of trash might get even worse if they were to advance down the hallway. Kagami looked down at her little girlfriend, and said, "Should we check out the other door first?"

Konata just closed the door to the messy hallway, and nodded in response. Backtracking they walked to the other end of the hallway, where Kagami attempted to open the door there only to find that it was locked. A little plaque on the door read, "Maintenance Room"

A little disappointed the two girls turned back towards the wrecked hallway they had just seen. A maintenance room wasn't what they had been looking for anyways, but Kagami wasn't too keen on climbing through all that trash.

"Geez," said Kagami as she opened the door into the trashed hallway once more, "Who would have even lugged all this junk up here?"

Konata shrugged quietly, and took the lead once more since she had a light. The door slowly swung shut behind them just like it was designed to, but they still both jumped as they heard the latch click in place letting them know the door was shut. The light illuminated trash of all sorts in the hallway. Konata even paused to examine a stack of magazines when she recognized a doujinshi sticking out of the pile.

Kagami groaned as Konata explained to her that there might actually be some good stuff in there if they looked around. There was no way Kagami was digging through a bunch of garbage though. She could smell some alcohol spilled somewhere in the hallway already, and she really didn't want to smell like that herself.

Konata took a step back from the magazine pile she had been regarding with interest when her foot came down on a glass beer bottle. It rolled outwards from her causing her to fall backwards as her balance left her. Kagami lunged forwards in an attempt to grab Konata, but was a bit too slow. She came down on top of Konata, and watched as their light flew to the side out of Kona's hands, and went out as it landed on the floor a few feet further down the hallway with a thunking noise.

Kagami was very well aware of Konata's body under her. She could smell her lover's shampoo. A large part of her didn't want to move. It wanted to press down on Konata, it wanted to feel her body, but Kagami fought the urges down as she shifted her weight off of her girlfriend. The Tsundere's hand touched something slimy as she moved off of Konata and she suddenly felt a wave of revulsion travel through her as she wiped her hand off on the magazine stack she was kneeling beside.

The darkness was complete, and Kagami was tense as she heard Konata sitting up, and then climbing to her feet. The Otaku whispered, "Kagamin. You there?"

Kagami could hear a little panic in the other girl's voice, and she answered, "Yeah I'm here. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," came Kona's response.

Kagami stood and reached out, trying to locate her girlfriend's exact position without the use of her eyes. Her hands came into contact with Konata who was only a foot in front of her, and her girlfriend's voice answered back, "Kagamin. Now isn't really the time to be feeling me up."

The lavender haired girl's hands drew back, realizing she had grabbed Konata's chest. Once more Kagami reached out, this time putting her hand on Kona's shoulder, and squeezing it gently. Kagami was a little frightened now that they were in the pitch darkness of such a disgusting place. Having Konata in her grip was very reassuring.

The silence was once again broken by Konata whispering, "I saw pretty close to where my phone landed. I don't think it would break that easy, let's find it."

Kagami whispered back, "Okay."

The Tsundere would love to get some light back. Not having the ability to use her eyes was killing Kagami. She couldn't stand to not have visual confirmation her girlfriend was really alright after that fall. In fact the only _good_ thing she could see about this whole situation now was that she didn't have to look at all the garbage in the hallway anymore. Not that that stopped her from hitting her shin on the wheel of an overturned wheelchair.

Konata inched forwards with Kagami's hand on her shoulder. She felt like she was pretty close to where her phone had landed so she slowly lowered herself down to her knees, and began feeling around for the familiar texture of her phone. Kagami stood while Konata was searching since she didn't want them to accidentally get separated while they were crawling around.

Kagami strained her ears at the darkness, listening to the rustling noises Konata was making as she searched for her lost phone, and source of light. Her ears focused almost entirely on that noise which is why she had trouble deciding on whether or not she was imagining the whispering she heard. When Kagami realized she was definitely hearing a hushed noise besides Konata, her stomach knotted up.

She wasn't beyond admitting to herself that she was scared. She was suddenly aware of how hot it was in this room as a sweat broke out on her brow. She listened closely only to realize it wasn't a whisper she was hearing. Kagami knelt down, and put her hand on Konata's back, whispering, "Shhh."

Kagami's shushing was done right in Kona's ear so that only the little Otaku could hear it. With Konata's noise gone from the situation, everything was silent for a few moments, and Kagami almost allowed herself to think she had just gotten frightened, and imagined things when the noise resumed. Closer than before.

_Shuu...thunk...Shuu...thunk...Shuu_

It sounded like air being blown through a small tube fallowed by a wet smacking sound like a soggy rag being thrown hard against the ground. Kagami felt Konata tense up as she heard it too. The noise was close...very close. The Tsundere was suddenly aware of how loudly she was breathing, and tried to quiet it, but every little thing she did suddenly seemed to be about ten times louder than it would normally be.

Both girls were sweating heavily, and their stomachs tightened as the noise came up right beside them. They both stayed huddled against the wall, clutching each other, and praying that nothing in this blackness could see them, just like they couldn't see it.

The seconds seemed to stretch into hours. Whatever was making the sound had stopped directly in front of the two girls, although they had no idea whether or not it was aware of them. Kagami could swear her rapid heartbeat would give them away. She could almost _feel_ the thing looming over them. She knew it was silently closing the inches between them, ready to do to them what it had done to the man downstairs.

Kagami was about to scream, and attack with her bare hands in order to give Konata a chance to make a run for it the noise started again. This time moving away from them. They stayed still for a couple minutes listening to the noise go back the way they had come from. Konata sighed heavily, and leaned against Kagami as the noise finally disappeared following the push bar for the door on their side being pushed in, and the door closing behind whatever had been making the noise.

Konata whispered quietly, "Kagami...what was that?"

The Tsundere honestly had no clue. It was pitch black in here, and she hadn't even been able to discern a shape. For all she knew it could have been a midget breathing through a straw while slapping a wet rag on stuff while it passed. She wasn't about to suggest that to Konata though, so Kagami settled for saying she had no clue.

Konata hugged Kagami close, and whispered, "We're going to be okay, alright?"

Kagami could hear the scared tone in her girlfriend's voice. That statement had been as much a question to Kagami as it had been an attempt to make the younger girl less frightened. Kagami kissed Kona's forehead lightly, and squeezed both of her hands. Only to recognize a familiar sleek shape in Konata's right hand.

Kagami asked quickly, "You found it?"

The Otaku answered, "Yeah, I found it while I was reaching around looking for something to hit with."

Kagami sighed in relief, and responded, "Alright, let's get some light, okay?"

Konata nodded even though Kagami couldn't see it. She took two steps away from Kagami before pressing the button that activated her phone's flashlight. Kagami's eyes widened as the light came on. There was a loud hissing noise from only inches in front of Konata. Kagami saw a large black figure illuminated by the light, she saw it was covered all over by a bunch of big mouths with large white sharp teeth extending forwards while curving outwards, intertwining with each other like the teeth on a hair clip. The mouths snapped open so quickly they blurred as the light came on. Each one emitting a loud hiss like pressurized air escaping a hose.

Konata's eyes widened in surprise as the light came on. She was staring right down five different throats, and she felt her body loosen up all except the death grip she kept on her phone. The Otaku felt her jaw sag a little, and she didn't even have time to be afraid. She had accepted that she was dead as soon as those mouths had snapped open with their blinding speed.

Konata closed her eyes tightly, and then she was aware only of a very sharp pain.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Sorry for a shorter chapter than the last one, although next time I'll make it longer. I really had a good time writing this. It's pretty fun thinking of what should come next as I type everything out, as well as what's going through the character's minds. I'd really appreciate some feedback on this in areas especially including the atmosphere since background description has always been a weakness in my writing style I want to conquer by the time I'm through with this story.<p>

Also Don't forget that I'm always open to advice, so don't hold back on critique.


	4. The Longest Minute

Chapter 4-The Longest Minute

Kagami's world had fallen apart. First her anniversary date had been been ruined by waking in a dark silent hell. Her life was threatened obviously because of the appearance of a dead man. Nothing outside this freaky theater seemed to exist at all, and yet Kagami didn't care about any of that. In the moment when Konata's light came on, and she saw this creature covered with jagged teeth open all its various mouths only inches away from her Kona, Kagami knew the most important thing in her life was about to be ripped away from her.

Even if their whole world _was_ gone. Even if her logic had no impact on what occurred in this place. Even if everything she knew no longer existed here. None of that mattered next to Konata. The Tsundere's mind was screaming as she desperately tried to move despite her whole body wanting to lock down at being faced with a creature that shouldn't even exist. Kagami needed more than ever before to move.

Konata's posture slouched, it seemed to happen in slow motion to Kagami, and she realized the Otaku had just given up once she had seen what she was faced with. The loud hiss issuing from each mouth disturbed the air enough to move Kagami's hair like it was blowing in a sudden gust of wind. This sudden feeling of her hair brushing her skin unlocked the clenched muscles, and Kagami shot towards her lover with as much power as her body could manage.

"_Konata..."_

_Kona held Kagami close to her. They were both covered in sweat and weakened from their actions. Kagami lay on top of Konata, and she stared intensely as Konata's arm that wasn't pinned down wrapped around her back._

The beast was creeping forward as the world went into slow motion for Kagami. It had a human shape, and walked on two legs with pitch black skin that seemed to ripple as it moved, almost as if the creature was made of some sort of liquid forced into human shape. Saliva dripped off of each of its mouths in a steady stream.

Konata's mind had left the situation, as she relived her important moments here at the end. A single tear slid down Konata's cheek, as Kagami charged towards her love with everything she had, but the mouths were already closing.

"_I'm sorry...I'm so sorry Kona-"_

_The little Otaku tightens her grip on her Tsundere, and her eyes light up with an anger that makes Kagami flinch away. She's done something to make Konata very upset with her. Kagami knows it._

_Konata waits until Kagami meets her eyes, taking in the feel of her lover, and the soft bed they're laying in. The she says forcefully, "Kagami...Don't you EVER-"_

Then Kagami crashed into Konata's side, carrying her past the monster as the mouths snapped shut at once. Kagami screamed at the top of her lungs as she felt one of the mouths catch her slightly, but she didn't slow down as she carried Konata to the ground, rolling over her, and pulling her back up. Konata's light was swinging crazily as they rolled and struggled to stand, the little Otaku's paralysis broken from the pain in her side.

The mouths were illuminated as they rolled, and Kagami saw them snap open with another loud hiss as the light flashed over it once more, and she heard the multiple jaws crash together with bone crushing force as they turned and ran. Kagami was leading Konata by her hand, while Kona desperately tried to light their way, praying that there wouldn't be another monster in front of them.

A hospital gurney loomed out of the dark on their left blocking most of the hallway. Konata then pulled Kagami to the right, and they held each other as they squeezed past. Five more steps, and Kagami felt Konata loosened from her grip as the smaller girl vaulted an overturned wheelchair. Konata flashed the light back for an instant to see if the monster was gaining, but she didn't even have time to look back after turning the light to hear another series of hisses, she knew the monster was still there.

Kagami cried out in relief as straight ahead, suddenly illuminated, was a door with an exit sign over it. Sure the exit sign wasn't lit up, but she knew this was the way out they had been looking for. Her blood could be felt pumping through her body and her heart hammering in her ears as she gasped loudly for breath from her sudden exertion. Still Kagami spurred herself faster, and shoulder rammed the door with Konata, only for both of them to be sent sprawling backwards as the door didn't budge an inch.

Kagami heard another loud hiss, causing a pain in her ears, as Konata's light faced back towards the monster which was on the other side of the hospital gurney they had squeezed past. Its' mouths were wide open, and Konata moved her light to look at Kagami as she heard the mouths crush shut again.

Kagami lay there panting, and Konata reached out and gripped her right hand. Pulling her upright as Kona stood with her. Kagami felt a lot of hope drain from her, as she realized this exit door was just like the others. There was no time to ponder though because Konata was pulling her towards a small silver door with an ordinary knob immediately to the right of the exit.

The door was flung open, and Kagami was swung around and pushed into the room as Konata came behind her, closing the door. It was a small room with a vending machine, a microwave, and a long table. Just as dusty as the rest of the place, but at least it wasn't filled with garbage like that awful hallway they had just left.

Konata quickly swept the small room with her light to find it empty. The corners were barely illuminated by the pale light, but nothing stirred in them. Kagami's shoulder was killing her where she had rammed the door, and she knew Konata's was probably feeling about the same. Konata took a chair from under the table in the center of the room, and wedged it against the doorknob before sagging back against some cabinets, and a counter holding the microwave and coffee pot.

Kagami had paced to the other side of the room, but she now turned back to Konata, and nearly shouted, "What the HELL was that!"

Sure the whole place had been creepy and weird, and Kagami had had a feeling of hatred towards this place since she had awoken, but the mouthy creature had nearly broken any semblance of order she had regained since the beginning of this ordeal.

Kagami's rapid train of hatred, and downward spiral of failing to apply logic to what had occurred was interrupted by a sniffling sound from the opposite side of the room from her. She dropped her thought processes for the moment, and went over to Konata, sat down beside her, and held the other girl close. A couple tears leaked from Konata's eyes, but Kagami kissed them away.

The Otaku looked up to Kagami, and said in a cracked voice, "I almost died Kagamin...you saved me..."

"Shhhh...," came the Tsundere's response as she hugged Konata.

Kona whispered, "I'm glad you're here with me Kagamin. I couldn't do it by myself...I wouldn't even be able to move..."

Kagami agreed, although she wished neither of them were here in the first place. She knew she had been frozen too, if it hadn't been for Konata's sake, she wouldn't have been able to take action against the monster either. She knew, neither of them would be able to do anything in this place alone, but since they still had each other, they still had a chance.

"Kagamin..."

Konata's tone indicated a question, so Kagami responded, "What is it baby?"

Konata responded quietly, "Your hair Kagamin...It got some of your hair."

Kagami pulled her twintails over her shoulders to examine them closely, only to see the one on her left side was about three inches shorter than the one on the right. She was irked. Kagami spent a lot of time making sure her hair was perfect for when she saw Konata, but even with her annoyance, couldn't bring herself to fuss too much given the situation.

Instead Kagami noticed how the tips weren't even frayed, it wasn't like her hair had been torn, but rather sheared with a well placed clip of some very sharp scissors. Kagami shuddered to think about what could have happened if Konata's body had been caught in the mouths that had separated her hair so easily.

Kagami remembered the perfect half spheres cut out of the dead body on the floor below, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that one of those monsters had done it. A couple tears welled up in Kagami's eyes as she thought about it. That man's body had been here for a very long time. She wondered, if they died here, would anyone ever find them? Maybe that man's family was still waiting, and hoping he would come back someday. Kagami didn't want her family to ever be stuck with only false hope of ever seeing her and Konata again.

A wet sensation on the younger girl's neck moved her from her thoughts, and Kagami turned her head to give Konata a better view of the neck she was kissing gently. The older girl squeezed Kagami's hand as she began to suck gently on Kagami's sensitive spot on the side of her neck. Kagami loved it, and let out a little moan.

"Kagamin...I need you," whispered Konata as she moved her lips to her Tsundere's mouth, kissing her deeply.

Kagami began kissing back quickly, she knew this wasn't the time for such a thing, but Kagami couldn't help it. Konata made her feel better, and she knew she made Konata feel happier. They needed each other right then, and Kagami had no intention of stopping her lover, as she was gently lowered to the floor, Konata's tongue never stopped working its way through Kagami's mouth, and the Tsundere gasped for air as their mouths finally separated.

Konata's hand went to the younger girl's chest, and squeezed gently, causing Kagami to emit another little moan. In the dim light Konata's skin looked pale, almost like she was a ghost. Outside this room, only god knew what was waiting for them, but here in this little sanctuary two women who loved each other were becoming lost in their feelings.

Kagami had brief flashes of rational thought where she considered these actions a coping mechanism of some sort, but they were cut off always by Konata kissing her over and over. Konata's hands were under Kagami's shirt, while the younger girl issued a steady stream of moans, when something happened that neither girl had expected.

The door on the far side of the room opened.

Both girls were startled by the click of the latch as the knob twisted. They looked up as a light from a flashlight spilled into the room, and settled on them. Both of their faces were red, and Konata's hands were still squeezing Kagami's breasts under her shirt. Then something even more unexpected happened as the girls stared wide-eyed into the light, unable to make out the form holding the flashlight.

A man's voice said to them, "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

With that he stepped backwards, and shut the door quickly.

The two girls were silent for a moment just staring at the door that had just been shut by another living breathing human being, and then Konata called out loudly, "Hey, wait!"

Konata separated herself from Kagami, who was still longing for more of her lover's touch, but the younger girl also quickly stood up, and followed as Konata ran over to the door that had just been opened and closed, throwing it open once more, and stepping out into the hallway as if she had forgotten her close encounter in the previous hallway.

There was no sign of the man's light, or of him, no one answered their calls .The gloomy little hallway they had entered had doors on both ends about ten feet away each. There was no way of knowing which way the man had gone, or for that matter why he would have run away. Surely he should have been as happy to find people as they were.

Konata was pacing back and forth trying to figure out which door they should try, while Kagami was dreading trying either one knowing what could be behind them, but the chance at having another person with them was too important for her to allow herself to be frozen again. The dust puffed up through the air disturbed by their passings.

Kagami said quietly, "Two doors, should we split up?"

"NO!" exclaimed Konata with a shocked expression. As if she couldn't believe Kagami could even suggest that idea.

Kagami after thinking for a moment couldn't believe she had suggested that either. She knew this place was getting to her if she was going to be spouting nonsense like leaving Konata. Instead Konata suggested a round of Janken, and without any better ideas, Kagami agreed. If the Tsundere won, they would go to the door on her side, if Konata won they would go her way.

The first two rounds ended in a draw, Kagami won the third round. The younger girl giggled despite the situation as Konata put on an annoyed face at losing. Konata really hated losing any sort of game. Then Kagami felt a vein protruding from her forehead as Konata whined, "No fair, best two out of three!"

The Tsundere retorted in an aggravated manner, "This isn't a contest!"

The little Otaku folded her arms in annoyance, and muttered, "Fine."

They both walked to the right hand side of the hallway from where they had entered from the break room. The doorknob glistened a little in the dim light before it was fully illuminated. The two girls closed in on the door, and Konata reached out her free left hand, and gripped the doorknob, only to be surprised by Kagami putting her own hand over Konata's.

Kagami gripped her girlfriend's hand tightly, and said, "Konata wait...what if there's another monster?"

The younger girl felt her love's hand tremble slightly, but then Konata looked up at Kagami, and said, "Don't worry. If you're here with me...then I... I won't freeze up again. I'm not helpless Kagamin. I can fight, even if its just with my hands."

Kagami questioned the wisdom of her girlfriend trying to punch out a wall of biting mouths, but said, "We'll just take a peek. If we see anything moving in there, we'll shut the door, and just check back the other way."

The blue haired girl nodded her agreement, and then they both turned the knob at the same time. The door didn't so much as creak as it moved inwards. The light spilled out into the tiny room. It was a dead end. There was something weird about this small room though. First off, Kagami slammed the door shut when it happened, but the room suddenly lit up brightly with neither of them doing anything.

The two girls stood with their hands poised on the doorknob once more, but this time with light spilling out from the cracks in the door. They listened intently, but there were no sounds on the other side of the door, so after a few moments, Kagami slowly opened the door again. The bright light cast their shadows back all the way to the door on the other end of the hallway. After having Konata's phone for a light for so long this light which was only of average brightness seemed blinding.

The room seemed blurry while their eyes adjusted, but soon they could see this light was being cast from a vending machine. Why it had started up right when they had entered the room they didn't know. Furthermore, it seemed like the electricity was dead throughout this place, and yet the machine was running.

The Otaku wasn't questioning it though, she was already heading towards the vending machine grumbling about being hungry. Even if they didn't have anything to drink, a snack would be welcome, as well as some time spent in the light. Konata checked her phone again to see the time hadn't changed, but she also noticed the battery on her phone hadn't depleted at all.

After checking her phone Konata reached into her pocket for some spare change to put in the vending machine intending to buy her and Kagami something to eat. Sure it was odd that there was a suddenly working vending machine taking up all this tiny room except for just enough space for the two of them to walk in, but she had been taught to accept the little blessings without question. They finally had some small sort of relief.

Spotting the candy bar she wanted, Kona fed the change into the machine, and pressed the keys associated with her snack. She watched as the metal springs curled and dropped her candy bar into the trough at the bottom. The Otaku eagerly reached inside the flap of the trough to receive her prize, but her hands only found something cold and metal inside.

She pulled it out only to find a small bronze key. The only thing that went through her mind was the unfairness of it all. Kona had been trapped in the weird place, and worse still Kagami had been too. There were monsters running around, and she didn't have any kind of weapons like in all the games. There wasn't any cool hero character knocking the monsters through walls, or better yet turning into a monster to fight them while they cheered him on.

Now though, she couldn't even trust a vending machine to give her food. A couple tears of frustration stung the corners of her eyes, but Kona held them back. Instead of crying she shouted, "Piece of junk!"

Then the Otaku kicked the machine. It made an odd noise as the lights sparked from the kick, and then everything went dark again. Once again the black pressed in on them. Once again their only bit of small comfort was each other. Sure Konata hadn't really been very hungry, but she still had been really looking forward to a snack, something nice to remind them that this wasn't actually hell.

"Sorry Kagamin," said Konata quietly.

Kagami responded, "It's fine. That machine's light was starting to make me feel exposed anyways."

Kona felt her Tsundere's hand tightening around her own once again, and the Otaku decided to turn the flashlight setting on her phone back on. The darkness released them from its choking grip as their small light chased it back.

Kagami asked Konata, "So what was it you pulled out of there?"

Kona pulled the little key out of her pocket, and showed it to Kagami. In the pale light the younger girl could see some faded lettering, and upon closer inspection she saw that the key read, "Maintenance."

Kagami Shuddered a little. The key for the Maintenance room. They had left the Maintenance room behind on the other side of the hallway with the monster in it. There was no way she was going back through that hallway any way other than kicking and screaming.

The younger girl quickly set her sights on the other door they hadn't tried since she wasn't going to risk her life just to test a key they had found in a vending machine. Pocketing the small bronze object, she led Konata over to the other door.

Kagami's hand rested on the knob for only a few moments as she listened closely. Her ear was pressed against the door, but after everything was silent, she opened the door. This time the hallway they saw wasn't a small one. It was as large as the theater aisle down below, and Kagami guessed these were all projector rooms connected to each of the theaters.

There were no illuminated exit signs here. Kagami sighed in exasperation, as Konata said, "With as much tension as there is before we open every door, it'd be great if we had a snake cam or something."

Without exits Kagami saw this as a dead end, she wanted to just turn back, but unfortunately there was nowhere to turn to. At the very least if this _was_ a dead end, they would find the man who had walked in on them earlier. Maybe he had some idea about what was going on, but with his reaction to their prior situation he might just be an idiot stuck in this place along with them.

At least he had a brighter flashlight, that would be nice until the batteries ran out the Tsundere mused. There were monsters behind her, blocked by one door and a flimsy chair since they had left the exit door of the break room wide open.

Konata let out a sigh from beside her lover, and Kagami looked over to the smaller girl just in time to see her say, "Well...I don't like it, but I guess we should start checking out all these doors."

The Tsundere nodded in silence, and Konata began walking again, on the lookout for any kind of motion outside their pool of light. From the door that was open she went left. The first door wouldn't budge...big surprise.

The next door was stuck just like the first, and just like most of the doors leading into the theaters below them. The third door she tried actually opened, which surprised Konata. It was just a dark projection room overlooking a pitch black movie theater. Even so the two girls checked the small room out, the projector didn't turn on, none of the switches in the room actually did anything either.

So there was absolutely nothing to help them in here. Konata said quietly to Kagami, "What I wouldn't give to have a baseball bat or something. I really feel like smashing some stuff just to work off some stress right now."

Kagami responded, "I know what you mean."

Kagami felt a grip on her hand, and turned from inspecting some cabinets in order to look at her girlfriend. Konata whispered into Kagami's chest as they embraced, "We're not going to have to go back through there are we?"

Kagami patted Kona's back, and said, "I don't know. I hope not."

Kagami couldn't help but smile as Konata squeezed her tighter. Kagami loved it when Konata held her close. She broke the embrace though, since standing here in this little room wasn't helping them escape this predicament. They would have time for all the contact they wanted after escaping this place, so the Tsundere decided to focus on escape.

The lavender haired girl grabbed her Otaku's hand, and left the room.

Upon exiting, not even a full foot to her left, a loud hiss erupted, nearly deafening Kagami, and blowing her hair backwards, as she saw mouths snapping open out of the corner of her eye. The beast's jet black rippling skin bubbled slowly as the humanoid thing took a step towards her.

Her stomach turned upside down, and she felt sick looking down those awful throats, and the ridiculously large teeth. Then the Tsundere felt herself pulled to the side by a smaller form. Konata had grabbed her, and thrown her out of the way. Kagami tripped, stumbled, and fell down outside Konata's pool of light.

She looked in on the small lighted area, horrified, and terrified about what could happen to Konata in an instant. Konata was different from before though. She quickly rolled to the side of the monster, looking like she was planning to sweep its legs from the side. The light lolled wildly casting Konata's and the monster's shadows about wildly. Some of the mouths snapped shut with that blinding speed, and an audible clacking noise.

Unfortunately more mouths on the side Konata approached flashed open emitting the loud hissing noise again. The mouths on the side were smaller, but Konata had no doubt they were just as dangerous. Suddenly taken aback on her fighting plan, Konata hopped back from the creature as Kagami regained her feet.

It turned to face her at a very casual pace, snapping its side mouths shut, and opening the front mouths again with another loud hiss. She was preparing to run in and tackle the thing from the side despite the danger in order to help Kanata when she felt something wrap around her stomach, and then something else close over her mouth.

Kagami's eyes widened, and she knew she was most likely about to join the dead man downstairs when she heard a small hiss in her ear. After just a second of panic though, the Tsundere realized it wasn't a hiss like the monster, it was someone in the dark shushing her. Kagami calmed down quickly, if this person wanted to hurt her they probably would have already done it.

A man's whispering in her ear said, "Tell her to turn off the light."

Kagami instantly felt the pressure on her body alleviate after the message was delivered. Kagami didn't know why they should turn out the light, they wouldn't be able to see without it, and then it dawned on her. The chase from the same type of slow clumsy monster in the hallway earlier, the way the mouths on the thing opened and closed, and the fact that she hadn't seen eyes anywhere on the body of the beast. Kagami shouted, "Konata! It's tracking by reflex to the light! Turn it off!"

The Otaku looked into the black where she couldn't see Kagami looking on with scared eyes and worry on her face. It only took a minute, and all the light was gone. The mouths on the monster clamped shut, and weren't followed by a hiss of them opening again. Relief didn't settle in though, how could it? Especially when they knew the creature was still only a few feet away from them.

Kagami said quietly, "Konata, can you find your way over to me?"

In the pitch black the younger girl was just left staring at the place where she had seen Konata vanish into the dark. It was really disorienting to not be relying on her sight. If she thought about it, Kagami wasn't even able to point to the door they had entered from, the only way to find her way back without alerting the monster would be to fell her way back along the wall until she came to the open door they had left.

Kagami's hearing went into overdrive as she strained to hear any sort of noise, and after a few moments she heard soft footsteps coming towards her. Those were Konata's footsteps. She knew them well from the dark nights when Konata woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or something.

Kagami slowly made her way to them, and took Konata in her arms to hear a gasp come from the smaller girl as she was grabbed. The Tsundere whispered, "Shh. It's okay, it's me Konata, it's me."

Konata relaxed in Kagami's arms, but tensed back up when the younger girl said, "We're not alone Konata. A man was talking to me just a second ago. I know he's around here somewhere, he's got to be the one who walked in on us earlier."

"Where is he Kagamin?" asked Kona.

"Oh, I'm right here," said the man's voice from right beside them, causing them both to jump. Neither had heard him moving in. His voice was casual as well, definitely not suited to their situation.

There was a loud bump from near where the monster was, and the man chuckled, saying, "It's gone back to wandering around. They're really not too dangerous if you know how to handle them. You let your guard down though, or if there's a group of them, they'll tear you apart. I haven't seen anything those teeth can't pierce. I watched one of them cut a hole out of a brick wall."

Kagami couldn't believe it, there was a monster not ten feet away and this man was casually making conversation about it. This guy was obviously insane. Most likely someone they were much better off being away from.

Kagami decided to get away from him as soon as they could, but for the moment, at the very least, he knew more about the monsters than they did. So it could be worth it to listen to him for right then. Kagami felt a rough, and hard hand grip her own with a gentle grip, and she shuddered in revulsion at the thought of some stranger touching her in the dark.

He didn't waste any time asking if they would follow him though. The man just started pulling them in the direction of the monster, they could hear his free hand brushing the wall, so at least it seemed he too needed some reference to find his way in the dark. They passed by the monster quickly and quietly, and Kagami noticed the man's hand didn't even tense a little while passing by it, unlike Konata's and her own.

About twenty feet past the monster on the opposite side of the hallway from where the two women had started checking every door, the man opened a door, and pulled them inside before shutting it. A moment later he turned his flashlight on which was nearly blinding after the darkness, and set it up on a cabinet so that it dimly illuminated the small projector room they were in. The Tsundere was happy to finally be in a room she could see every corner of.

The light really did ease their minds, it was awful knowing terrible things were around you, and not being able to see them closing in on you. The next thing Kagami worried about was the man who had led them into this room. She could finally see his appearance.

He was a big man. Almost six feet tall. That wasn't very surprising to Kagami though, the thing she found odd was that he wasn't Japanese. His language had been fluent when he had spoken, she hadn't been able to tell his voice from a native Japanese man. Distrust welled up in her, Kagami had always felt uneasy, and a little suspicious of foreigners who spoke her language flawlessly, especially since most tourists that came along could barely speak two Japanese words without a dictionary.

The man had short brown hair with no particular style, except parted down the middle. It was a very plain style. His big brown curly beard was something of an oddity as most Japanese men didn't grow beards like that. His gray eyes didn't blink often, and didn't have any wrinkles below them, so he couldn't be too much older than Kagami and Konata. Maybe in his mid twenties.

Next was his muscular frame. He had very very large shoulders, and large arms. His chest wasn't all that big for someone his size, but his shoulders just seemed to dominate his countenance. His legs were also pretty muscular, but he was definitely an upper body strength type of man.

He wore black boots, that Kagami noted were a type she had seen in some store with steel toes.

His blue jeans seemed old and faded as did the black, short sleeve t-shirt he was wearing. The only real oddity about his clothing though was the fact that he was wearing red fingerless leather gloves, but maybe that wasn't really that odd considering the three foot long pipe he carried in a leather case on his back.

After taking all of this, Kagami finally noticed that his skin was pale. Very pale. He hadn't seen sunlight in quite a while, whoever he was. That thought scared Kagami, he sort of reminded her of pictures of prisoners she had seen before. His rough countenance was more than a little intimidating, but what the Tsundere really worried about wasn't whether he was dangerous or not, he had saved their lives most probably, and he didn't look like he had any intention of suddenly becoming violent with them.

Kagami was worried about the paleness of his skin, if he was pale because he had been trapped here for a long time, she wondered how long it would be before they got out of here. For the first time since being here, she thought about the possibility that they might be in this place for a very long time.

A sudden beep from Konata's direction made all three of them start. Konata looked at the display on her phone. Time had just progressed one more minute. The time was now One Fifty-Nine.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Okay, so it's been a while since I made an update, but the story isn't forgotten i just don't have much time. New character introduction, and some monster scenes, as well as a flashback, those were pretty fun to do. I'm liking the way this is flowing so far, I just wish I had more time to work on it. I hope all of you enjoy this, and if you see somewhere I've erred make sure to point it out so I can improve on my mistakes.<p> 


	5. Caliban

Chapter 5-Caliban

"So...how's it going?" came the first question from the man.

Kagami felt a vein rising in her forehead from the casualness of the question. It really pissed her off how calm he was.

"Not too bad aside from the whole darkness and monsters and stuff," came Konata's equally casual reply, which pissed off Kagami much more.

The man responded, "Well that's nice to hear."

Kagami snapped, and actually yelled, "You two are idiots aren't you!"

"Guilty," they both replied in unison.

The Tsundere's jaw sagged a little at their blunt response, not even trying to bother to hide their condition. Actually Konata's response was no surprise at all, what was odd was how this man had responded the same way. Kagami stared him down, and he took this to be disbelief, and said, "I'm not smart, I'm strong."

After a brief facepalm, Kagami decided they should really discuss what was going on. At the very least this guy had been here longer than them, so he could help inform them on what he knew. She needed to be careful though. A big American or English man, speaking fluent Japanese, claiming to not be smart seemed to be a little more than odd.

An introduction would be nice. She could probably determine where he was from by his name. So Kagami asked first, "Alright, what's your name? I guess we should know each other if we're going to be here together anyways. I'm Kagami, and that's my girlfriend Konata."

The big man nodded, and then put his hand up to his bearded chin, like he was thinking, and then he replied, "My name is...uhhhh...Katahaba. Yeah, that's it."

The lavender haired girl's jaw sagged again. The pauses, the obvious thinking pose. This man was a terrible liar. Konata actually giggled at his behavior, despite thinking the same thing as Kagami. It was almost like he was a very large little kid just trying to act cool in front of them. To her there was something charming about a grown man who seemed pretty immature.

The Otaku at least, trusted him, she didn't think he was the type to suddenly become violent, or try and lead them into a trap. Also the way he looked directly into their eyes when he spoke, and his gaze didn't travel across their bodies made her really doubt his intentions were of a sexual nature.

Kona noticed different things about him than Kagami did, sure he was a big, ugly, scary looking guy, but after she took the time to examine him thoroughly, something about him seemed pleasant. His posture was slouched slightly, and relaxed, his tone of voice was casual, he really seemed like a laid back type of guy.

Even with the situation they were in, the man's eyes held no fear, although his reflexes were healthy as proven by the earlier beep from Konata's phone. Having evaluated these things for herself though, Konata still couldn't help but wonder at a feeling that crept up in her whenever she looked at him. In his features, there was something very familiar.

Kona couldn't quite place why or when she had seen this man before, but this was definitely somebody she had encountered before. If Katahaba knew this though, he gave absolutely no indication of it. Whether he was pretending or just didn't recognize her like she did him, the smaller girl didn't know.

Konata's train of thought was interrupted by Kagami's next question, "What are these monsters? I've never heard of anything like them, and I doubt a bunch of them just suddenly popped up in the middle of Japan."

The big man shrugged, and replied, "Monsters...is that what they are? I though they were just weird animals."

Kagami responded, not believing this man was as dense as he was acting for a second, "Oh come on, nobody could believe in animals like that. Is that the best lie you've got?"

Katahaba just responded calmly despite Kagami's rising anger, "Well, I haven't seen every animal in the world, so how could I have known they were monsters? I told you I'm strong, not smart. I can hardly figure anything out on my own."

The Tsundere sighed in frustration, obviously pressing him wasn't going to shatter his act, although she had to admit, it was a pretty good act. Even so, Kagami believed there was more than him than he was willing to admit. Surely she could figure out some kind of useful information from him. Then it hit her from his last statement. If Kagami could actually believe most of what he was saying considering he hadn't shown the tells he had displayed while stating his name, then he probably wasn't alone.

If he could really hardly figure out anything on his own he would most probably have someone nearby to direct his brawn. Banking on this Kagami quickly asked before he could read anything into her own personality, "So, who else are you with? If you can hardly do anything on your own you must have someone else."

Katahaba scratched his beard slowly, and then replied, "I'm not with anyone besides you guys right now, but I'm looking for someone, my Big bro. The whole reason I came to this place was to find him. You wouldn't happen to have seen him would you?"

Kagami felt this time he was telling a truth, and felt a little sad at hearing that. She still remembered how bad she had felt her first few weeks living without Tsukasa, it was possible this man had a similar relationship with his big brother. She shook her head, and replied, "No, I'm sorry, you're the first person we've seen since we woke up here."

"Oh darn," he replied, and then said, "Well, I guess I better start looking for him some more. I know he's lost somewhere in this place, but I just can't for the life of me seem to find him. I know he's okay because he's a lot better at fighting than I am, but he's just gone."

With that Katahaba made for the door, but he was stopped by Konata saying, "Hey wait. Don't you think it would be better for us to stay together?"

Katahaba turned to face her with a confused look, and said, "Why? Are you guys looking for Big bro too? Did he hurt you guys too? I told him to stop doing stuff like that, but he's really hardheaded. I'll make sure to grump at him for you, but he's really a nice guy deep down. So please forgive him, okay?"

The two girls shuddered at the realization that whoever Katahaba was looking for was dangerous. That and he was missing somewhere in this dark hell. The moments passed silently, there was nothing to disturb the oppressive stillness this world naturally assumed when no one made an effort to break it, and then Katahaba stepped towards Konata. He was only inches from her staring down at her face as she looked up into his.

Kagami wanted to move between them, but she was also frozen by the moment until the big man said quietly to Konata, "Do I know you?"

The small Otaku responded, "No, I don't think so."

"Oh," he replied, obviously disappointed, and then he continued, "I think you look like someone I knew a really long time ago. Anyways, bye. I've got some looking around to do."

With that Katahaba took his leave of the room, closing the door behind him. Konata and Kagami just stared at the door for a full minute before Kagami said, "He forgot his flashlight."

Konata answered, "I don't think he forgot it, or he would have come back for it by now. It's pretty dark out there."

Kagami thought about that, and responded, "So you're saying he left it here for us?"

"Yep," came the little Otaku's reply, "I think he just wanted to help us out, he seems really nice to me."

Kagami had to admit, the man hadn't done anything violent in their presence. He hadn't even seemed annoyed when Kagami was trying to break his act, she allowed herself to wonder for a moment if maybe it wasn't an act, and maybe they had actually just met a really nice man. She could concede that point to Konata for now, but Kagami still felt she should warn her girlfriend, so she said, "Alright, so maybe he was a pretty nice guy, even if a little weird, but don't go trusting just anyone okay? If we get separated somehow, I'll be worried sick you're trusting someone like the big brother he's looking for."

Konata replied, "It'll be okay Kagamin. After all, I think we just met the hero."

"Hero?" came Kagami's response.

Konata answered back, "Yeah, in all the anime and video games, if anything like this would happen, there would be someone like him to fight the monsters, and protect people like us."

Kagami sighed as she looked at her girlfriend. They were both scared it was true, but she really doubted Katahaba was here to protect them. If he had been, he would have killed the monster Konata was fighting instead of just offering advice. He also probably wouldn't have just left them. Still he _had_ left his flashlight for them.

Kagami walked over to it, and picked it up, it was a very bright light, and yet something about this place seemed to stifle the range of the light. Under ordinary circumstances a light as bright as this one wouldn't leave any shadows in the room. It was about a foot long with a pressure button on the back for quick flashes, but Kagami noted that The head was tightened to keep the light on permanently, and when she loosened the head the light went out leaving them in darkness.

The Tsundere quickly turned her light back on, illuminating the small room once again. Kagami couldn't help but stare at Konata as the light reflected off her eyes, sparkling beautifully. Konata blushed slightly at the attention, and let out a small giggle as she realized Kagami was was staring at her.

Looking around the room for the first time they saw it was a small projector room just like the other they had been in before they had met Katahaba. The only real difference was that there was a very very slight blue tinge of light in the usually pitch dark theater below. Kagami shined her new flashlight down through the window, and shuddered as she saw two chairs down on a barren floor, and a stage curtain on the far side of the room.

This was the projector room above the theater they had woken up in. The memory of the dead emptiness Kagami had felt when she had first awakened flooded back to her, and for just a brief moment she felt a tinge of panic trying to enter her mind once again. The feeling was fought down after a quick look at Konata though. It was much easier for the Tsundere to manage her feelings when she had her angel to focus on.

Another odd thing about the room was the fact that the small projector room window had a handle, like a doorknob, and the window opened out onto a small ledge. It was a small scaffolding supported from the roof with just enough space for one person to crawl on, although it looked so rusty and rickety it would probably break and fall if someone actually tried to go out on it.

The Tsundere's observations were interrupted by Konata saying, "Kagami, I found something over here."

The Otaku was pointing towards a small sheet of paper lying next to the unresponsive light board that was in place of a projector like in the other rooms. Quickly Kagami shined her light on the paper, and began to read aloud.

_Damn it all!_

_This old place's wiring looks like it was done by a bunch of eight year olds._

_The stage lights constantly short out,_

_and when that happens the light board doesn't work. I've sort of fixed it, but_

_the lights bulbs keep burning out way too quickly, shutting everything down._

_All you need to do though is head to maintenance, and get another bulb_

_for the light on the left side. Once it's lit up, everything should be fine for a few hours of usage._

_If I could get some decent tools and supplies this wouldn't be a problem._

"Call me crazy, Kagamin, but I really feel like something wants us to get those stage lights working properly," came Konata's response after Kagami stopped reading.

The lavender haired girl had to agree. She could almost feel something pulling her strings as if she were a puppet, and it wanted her to do this. Kagami didn't like that feeling at all. She liked to be in control of a situation, to think she was just being jerked around by an unknown person or force really grated on her, but since all the exits were sealed, they really had no choice but to play this game.

The Tsundere felt almost like a gerbil running in its little wheel as she considered being so manipulated by whatever unknown force was torturing her and Konata. Even so, there was no helping it, and armed with a new light, and the knowledge that there were more people left in the world, Kagami was feeling much better than she had been previously.

One look at Konata confirmed the smaller girl was feeling much better as well. Now that they had those things figured out, as long as they took it slow, they should be alright to slip past the monsters.

The Tsundere kept telling herself there was nothing to be afraid of, but deep down she didn't believe it. Something in her gut told her these security nets building up in her mind were just setting her up for a big fall, and yet she kept walking towards the exit of the little projector room with Konata in tow, telling herself that as long as she could keep Konata safe, everything would fine.

The door opened silently, and Kagami stepped out, hearing Konata treading behind her as she played the flashlight along the wall searching for the monster that had been in here. A sudden hiss as she played it to the right prompted her to quickly shut off the light. The creature was on their right hand side, about twenty feet down the hallway, that was good since they needed to go left to go back the way they came.

They crossed the hall, and began feeling the wall, checking the knobs of each door until they found the first projector room they had been in. Kagami knew the next two doors would be stuck, and then the one after those would lead them back towards the maintenance room. Both girls had to contain their urges to sprint away from the direction they knew the monster was in, but neither wanted to run headfirst into whatever new nightmares this place had waiting on them.

Once they were out of the projection room hallway, they shut the door behind them. Kagami lit the hallway up, and saw the vending machine across from them, and the break room entrance on their right, and the two girls wasted no time in getting into the break room. Once inside they saw the chair that had been wedged up against the door handle was pushed to the side.

They hesitated for a few moments staring at the chair before Konata said, "It must have been Katahaba-kun. He's probably the only other person who could have come this way."

"Kun?" responded Kagami quizzically, not remembering when Konata had become so chummy with the big man.

Konata responded defensively, "Hey! I already said I think he's our friend."

Kagami dropped it, and for the first time she felt a grin on her face. Konata's defensive retort had been really cute. She wasn't particularly jealous even if she suspected Konata might fancy his big shoulders, Kagami knew that Konata was hers. They loved each other, and would always be together no matter what, so whenever one of them noticed another person as attractive it always earned a round of teasing from the other.

Even so Kagami found it charming that Konata obviously didn't care about how big, ugly, and scary Katahaba was in appearance, she trusted him anyways. That pureness was something Kagami always admired about the smaller girl. She believed in people even when there was plenty of evidence that most people just weren't worth trusting. That was part of what made her Kagami's angel.

Kagami patted Kona's head, causing the smaller girl to blush, and then asked, "You ready?"

Konata responded, "Yeah, let's do this Kagamin."

The lavender haired girl opened the door pointing the beam towards the sealed fire exit, when no his greeted her, she stepped into the filthy hallway once again revulsion flooded her as she looked over all the trash, and the smell of it came back to her. Kagami flashed her light down the hall, and received no hiss, but her light didn't quite extend to the other end of the hall so there was room for one of the creatures to be in here.

She kept her light raised as they advanced through the hallway. Past the wheelchair Konata had vaulted over, and around the gurney that had blocked the monster earlier. Soon they were standing back in the place they had had their first encounter, and at this point the entire hallway had been explored by the new flashlight.

There was no monster in here. They reached the end of the hallway, and saw the push doors leading into the small area at the top of the stairs. Logical thought processes told Kagami that her monster was beyond this door. It had brushed against the push bar and moved into the next room, there was still slime on the push bar, but the next area was cramped, it would be hard to get by without brushing the monster.

The lavender haired girl had no way of knowing if these things responded to touch as well as light, and she wasn't keen on figuring it out. Still, the maintenance room was on the other side of this area, and she didn't want to be stuck here forever, so with a deep sigh, Kagami switched off her light, and pushed the door open.

The two girls pushed into the small area, and Kagami turned her light on to find the monster two feet in front of her. The loud hiss as the mouths on its stomach area opened up. It began lumbering towards her, and Kagami was about to shut off the light when her brain stopped her reflex. The mouths responded to light, which meant if she shut the light off the mouths would close, but at this range, she would be caught in it, she could probably dodge, but there wasn't enough room for Konata to dodge too.

Her thought processes slammed into overdrive as her logic raced to find a solution before this thing closed in close enough that its sensitivity would wear off, and it closed its mouth on the source of light. Her advantage came in that she realized that Konata's phone made a pool of light that activated all the mouths on whichever side they were facing, but this light had a focused beam that only opened a couple of them.

She shouted, "Konata, duck!"

The smaller girl quickly obeyed, as Kagami rolled past the things legs, and the mouths shut right where she had been only a second before. In the darkness, Konata would be safe since she was too close to the ground to get caught in the chest level mouths. It had been a perfectly executed plan until Kagami's roll ended with her facing a creature behind the one they were dealing with. It was inches away, and Kagami was too close to dodge before the mouths that opened right in her face closed around the source of light that was currently right in front of her face.

Then Kagami felt a pain in her shoulder and heard a screech as Konata vaulted off her shoulder, drop kicking it with both feet above where the mouths were opened. Kagami saw the things feet leave the ground, and it made a sucking noise as its nearly liquid feet left the floor. It smacked down a foot back, and Kagami light revealed its fluids running wildly away from the mouths, before flooding back, and reforming the body in its laying position.

The Tsundere noted that while the fluids weren't forming the human body shape of the thing, the mouths didn't open and close. This was noted, however while the two girls vaulted over the things body, and approached the maintenance room door while Kagami pulled the key out she had taken from Konata earlier.

Thankfully she had unlocked enough doors in her life that she didn't fumble the key a thousand times, and got the door unlocked quickly. The door was slammed shut behind Kagami as she entered after Konata. They panted and Kagami noticed for the first time she had quickly become drenched in sweat, she supposed almost dying a couple times could do that to you.

Konata sagged against the wall as Kagami sunk to sit with her back to the door. That had been way too close, first Kagami had saved Konata, and then Konata had saved her, Kagami managed to pant out, "Thanks."

The Otaku waved her response.

Kagami looked around the room, it was a small room. There were shelves on both side walls spanning all ten feet of the room, and a large worktable on the far end. There were little coils of wire, and screws, and light bulbs everywhere. The ones that drew Kagami's attention were the ones stored on a top shelf, with a tag that said, "Stage Lights," under them. She had no clue why a movie theater would keep stage lights in their maintenance room, but then again, she didn't know much of anything about the situation they had landed themselves in, so she decided to be thankful they were there at all.

Konata was the first to stand after their exertion, and she immediately began scrounging along the shelves looking for something that would be useful for them. Kagami stood a few moments later, and fetched two stage light bulbs just in case the first one didn't work out. She was kind of worried since these bulky lights took up her hands, but Konata emptied out a tool bag she could carry on her shoulder, and Kagami put the boxes in there.

They also stored a Flathead, Phillips head, and Allen wrench driver set stored conveniently on one screwdriver handle with the multiple heads ready to be changed out all stored in the handle. Something else that caught Konata's attention was a sheet of plywood stuffed behind a shelf, and after a little tugging she managed to pull it out.

The smaller girl reasoned they could use it as a shield to get back through the hallway, and Kagami was willing to give it a shot especially considering how little she liked the idea of watching her girlfriend dropkick a monster that could eat a brick again. Unfortunately there was nothing in here that could be used as a weapon, since the broomsticks in here were plastic, Kagami didn't want to give them a try only to have them bend, and her fall into an eager mouth.

So they decided, after procrastinating for about five minutes not looking forward to leaving the shelter of the maintenance room, to give Konata's idea a try. Kagami opened the door, and then got behind the plywood with Konata as she pushed out into the hallway. They stayed against the right side wall, and felt the wood smack into the first creature, which thankfully didn't hiss, and chomp through their barrier. It was shoved past quickly, and a moment later the second creature followed suit. They left the plywood angled against the push doors as they entered the trashy hallway once more. At least if they came back this way, when they opened the door, the plywood would fall over towards one of the monsters, hopefully knocking it down.

Kagami tried not to look around at the filth as they came through this hallway for the third time, and back through the break room. A moment later they were in the projector room hallway once more, and Kagami moved the beam of her flashlight around, only to find they monster she was looking for bumping into a wall about halfway down the hall.

Luckily they could make it to their destination without having to pass it. The small projector room seemed almost welcoming as they entered and shut the door behind them. Kagami really hoped all of this hadn't been for nothing. She wanted to leave this place for good, and stop feeling like a puppet being jerked around.

After resting for a few moments, Konata unslung the tool bag, and pulled out one of the bulbs, and the screwdriver. She said quietly, "Well, time for me to get to work."

Kagami watched Konata approach the window that could be opened, and her protective instincts kicked in causing her to tell Konata to stop. Her girlfriend hesitated, and looked questioningly back towards Kagami, who said, "You don't think I'm letting you get out on that rickety thing do you? I'll go."

Konata, responded, "Sorry Kagamin, but I'm going to have to refuse that. You're right this thing is rickety, but it definitely won't hold both of us, and since I'm not as heavy as you, it'll be me changing the light out, not you."

It was rare that Konata was so firm with her, and Kagami's retort caught in her throat as Konata glared at her, daring the younger girl to try and stop her. The smaller girl tensed up as Kagami walked towards her, but Kagami just hugged her, and said, "Alright. You be careful though. I can't lose you Konata, okay?"

"I'll be fine Kagamin, it'll only take me a minute, it's like changing a light bulb," the little Otaku joked.

Kagami released her little girlfriend after a quick kiss, and handed her the flashlight to work with, while Konata handed Kagami her phone just in case the Tsundere needed some light on her end.

Konata opened the projector room window, and looked at the rickety rusty walkway leading to the two stage lights at this level. In all honesty she wasn't looking forward to this either as she crawled out onto the metal scaffolding it swayed, and clanged loudly with her weight, groaning in protest.

Konata mentally told the platform to stop being such a baby, and approached the one stage light that wasn't lit. The other cast a dim blue down towards the curtain below. It only took a moment for Konata to work out how to remove the gel, and change out the bulb. After replacing the blue colored gel, the Otaku called out to Kagami to try and start up the light board or projector machine in the room.

Kagami left the window, and flipped the power switch immediately seeing many bright stage lights shine down towards the stage curtain. The whole world seemed to fall apart in that instant. The walls began rippling and boiling like an angry sea in Kagami's perspective as a ringing filled her ears, starting low, but rising as speech seemed to come from everywhere at once.

The Tsundere could see the curtain rising, and wanted to check on Konata since the world seemed to be shaking but a pain was growing in her head as the ringing grew louder. Kagami began crying as her vision blurred, she could almost feel her lover slipping away from her as she collapsed, consciousness fleeing her with the ringing noise.

* * *

><p>Konata noticed immediately when the light from her phone that Kagami was using disappeared, and looked over just in time to see the window sinking into the wall, and being covered like nothing had ever been there. She screamed Kagami's name as everything began rippling around her, the chairs below sinking into the floor, and the walls slowly being replaced by chain fencing showing her nothing was where the projector room used to be. Her platform shuddered and slowly began lowering on chains working as an elevator bringing her closer to the metal floor.<p>

The bubbling on the floor began to take the shapes of many of the different mouth monsters that Konata had dubbed as Gluttons. There were hundreds of them, and they were hissing as the stage lights activated their mouths which she was slowly lowering towards.

The only part of the world that wasn't rippling and broiling was the stage, and Konata's screaming stopped as she felt her voice catch in her throat. The curtain was rising as a voice played out from everywhere. The thing on the stage was at least eight feet tall on all fours, probably fourteen feet long. It had white scaly skin, and a long neck tipped with four hungry mouths lined with sharp pointed teeth, and dripping with saliva. Its tail writhed maddeningly behind it covered in spikes that looked eerily similar to the teeth in its mouth.

It stomped and the room shuddered causing the Gluttons to stumble and fall all over.

The voice played out uninterrupted during the entire time it took Konata to lower to the floor where she faced the gluttons, and this new lizard, dinosaur thing all alone, completely unarmed, and then the stage lights went out, leaving her in pitch darkness.

_All the infections that the sun sucks up  
>From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him<br>By inch-meal a disease! His spirits hear me  
>And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch,<br>Fright me with urchin—shows, pitch me i' the mire,  
>Nor lead me, like a firebrand, in the dark<br>Out of my way, unless he bid 'em; but  
>For every trifle are they set upon me;<br>Sometime like apes that mow and chatter at me  
>And after bite me, then like hedgehogs which<br>Lie tumbling in my barefoot way and mount  
>Their pricks at my footfall; sometime am I<br>All wound with adders who with cloven tongues  
>Do hiss me into madness. <em>

* * *

><p>Kagami awoke an unknown amount of time later to find she could see perfectly. She started awake screaming Konata's name. When she saw She was in a dim, dusty, but much brighter version of the projection room, Kagami pulled her knees in close to her and began sobbing. She didn't care if monsters could hear her wailing or not. She had lost Konata, and there was now nothing else in the world that mattered.<p>

Kagami lay there screaming and sobbing for nearly ten minutes before her throat hurt too badly for her to continue. She slowly rose to her feet, and looked out the window towards the theater she had fallen asleep in. A version of it anyways, it was still old and dusty, but all the chairs were back, and it was much brighter, this still wasn't the same cheery theater she had come to on her date, that was obvious.

Finally Kagami exited the room, dead on her feet, and not caring if there was a monster on the other side of the door or not. Konata was gone, and Kagami hadn't been able to do anything to protect her. Of course in this state, Kagami never noticed the presence coming up behind her.

* * *

><p>After the voice faded is was perfectly silent in the theater hall that now resembled an arena thanks to the world being altered. Konata was too afraid to turn her light on, thinking she would be completely surrounded by gluttons, but she was also worried that big thing on the stage, but Konata knew she couldn't just stand here, so she took a step away from the stage.<p>

Big mistake.

Her footstep rung out across the room breaking the silence in which she couldn't see anything. It echoed off the far wall which was also metal, and then she heard the roar. The beast was coming. Its first step shook Konata's world as it jumped from the stage, and charged blindly towards where the noise was coming from, and Konata could hear the hisses of many gluttons as they were upset, and thrown about.

It seemed the Gluttons _did _respond to touch, but apparently you had to hit them hard enough. Konata began to run to the side since she could tell its footsteps were coming towards her. She bumped into a few of the Gluttons and was revolted by their sticky smelly bodies, but they took no notice of her as she hurried through the blackness to get away from the big monster.

It couldn't hear her over its own footsteps ringing out loudly, so Konata would be able to dodge as long as she kept her distance, but she knew, she was going to have to do better than dodge, because she had to find a way out of here.

The fear was numbing her mind to how hopeless her situation was, she couldn't fight, she couldn't run because she had seen every edge of the room during her descent, and she was practically locked in a gladiator match with this monster. If her mind gave up hope of escape though, her body would stop functioning, she needed Kagami, she needed her bad, and yet another part of her was thankful Kagami wasn't trapped down here with her.

If her death had saved Kagami, then Konata would accept it gladly, but she still wasn't _quite_ ready to give up on her own existence yet. As Konata ran towards the stage this time to dodge the things furious charge as it responded to her footsteps a plan began forming in her mind. It was dangerous, but it was also her only hope.

The whole time they had been here a force had been guiding them. It had purposely led them to every exit in the building to show them one thing. There was no escape. This wasn't something that would let them go willingly, and if that was case, then Konata just had two options left. She could either roll over, and die, and leave her Kagamin all alone forever, or she could grow a pair, and show this thing controlling their paths, that she wouldn't be shoved around. Konata Izumi was nobody's plaything except for Kagami's when she was in one of her frisky moods.

Konata heard the beast slam into the fencing on the far side wall only a few feet from where she had been before, and turned to face it. She swallowed hard, and said to herself, "Hope Kagamin likes me with balls."

Then she readied her flashlight, and brought light into the world.

* * *

><p>The lavender haired girl felt cold steel on her throat and tensed up immediately as she felt a hand grab her hair roughly, and jerk her up taught. Strange, she had met Katahaba in a similar manner, and yet this was completely different. A voice said to her, "Not smart to let your guard down in a place like this."<p>

It was a young man's voice, probably about the same age as Katahaba. Kagami couldn't bring herself to care though, and responded, "If you're going to kill me, then go ahead and do it. I've already lost everything important to me."

An answer came quickly, saying, "Those things make people weak. Personal attachments making you risk your life, and then when you're gone you're as good as dead, so what's the point in having them?"

Kagami said, "I'd rather die now having loved her, than lived my entire life without her. Even if it ends like this, what we had was worth it."

The grip released her hair, and the blade came away from her neck. Kagami felt a foot on her backside, and was sent sprawling forward as she rolled the upside down world came into focus and she saw her assailant for the first time.

A man who looked a little older than her. Another American or Englishman with flawless Japanese. He had a well trimmed goatee, and dark brow short cut hair. He had a dimpled chin, and nice angular features. Honestly he was about as handsome as Katahaba was ugly. The blade was a full three foot katana, and this man held it like he had held one from the moment he was born.

His eyes were cold, and Kagami knew in her heart that this man was a killer. He began to walk away slowly, saying, "I thought I was brought here to find a real fight, but all I find is weaklings. I've got no use for a pathetic woman like you. I need a real fight, you wouldn't happen to have seen any of those monsters, would you? Preferably big, and with a lot of pointy parts."

The man had obviously made up his mind that she hadn't seen any because he was casually strolling away as he asked. Kagami didn't answer him at first, but when the man was halfway down the hall she asked, "Do you know Katahaba?"

Kagami's bladder almost emptied itself as the man spun and fixed her with a hateful glare. That glare was scarier than looking down the throats of the mouth monsters. He had a pistol pointed at her as he advanced quickly, shouting, "How do you know that name!"

The guys voice was dripping with venom, and Kagami knew if she didn't answer him, she was dead. She was tempted on not answering, but something made her speak up. Maybe her life was over with losing Konata, but if this was Katahaba's brother, at least she could still do some good in helping them reunite.

She responded, "He's here, in the theater...at least he was. Everything changed...and..."

Her voice died, but the man seemed to know what she was saying. He lowered the gun, and it pretty much just vanished in an instant, this man had a hidden holster somewhere on him. He was quick with his hands too.

The man, sighed, and said, "So that idiot tracked me here, huh? Alright, tell you what, if you run into him again, tell him James said to clear out. The last thing I need is him getting in my way. If you help me out, I'll give you a little bit of advice."

Kagami nodded, and he took it to mean she agreed to his demand, and then he said, "What I said about attachments is true, I've seen it all my life, but sometimes you just come across a person so amazing, they blow everything you ever thought away without even trying. Katahaba is like that, I've seen him take down guys he doesn't even have any business being on the same street with. Guys who are faster, stronger, smarter, and yet none of them managed to smoke him. If you ever find someone like that, don't ever give up on them before you know they're done for good. If you do then you'll just feel stupid when they come back and rub it in your face."

Kagami's eyes widened as she looked up, and saw the man grinning at her. He still had his cold killer eyes, but with that grin, he had looked just like Katahaba.

He walked off without saying goodbye, and Kagami stood up after he left through the emergency exit. There was no way she would give up on Konata so easily. Her little Otaku had been through hell and come out alright before, and she'd do it again. Kagami didn't know at that moment if she could save Konata, she didn't even know if she could help the smaller girl, but Kagami made up her mind that at the very least she would never stop believing in Konata.

* * *

><p>Konata turned on her flashlight, and the world exploded with brightness as her beam illuminated a path all the way to the big monster. She heard the hiss of the Gluttons the beam touched, and heard the monster roar in anger as it spotted her. It was charging again a moment later, unnaturally fast. Its features actually blurred a little as it run at a good thirty miles per hour. Konata kept waving the flashlight beam across its skin as it approached, and rolled quickly out of the way as it got close.<p>

She had to jump back from the snapping mouth of a glutton as she activated its mouth when she came out of her roll. Konata moved away from it as she went back to pestering the monsters hide with her beam. Finally as she was illuminating its flank while it was turning back to face her, she heard a hiss as her beam played over a Glutton standing beside the monster, its mouths opened up, and Konata turned the flashlight beam off, making them snap shut, and take a chunk out of the big creature.

It roared in anger, and the Otaku was glad she couldn't see its mouths as it roared. The world was black again, and she was desperately trying to get out of the way of this things renewed charge. Konata flipped through the air after a heavy object smashed into her chest, throwing her several feet and knocking the wind out of her.

A sharp pain told her that her shoulder had also been pierced. It looked like Konata wasn't the only thing in here learning about its enemy. She knew she had been clipped by its tail as it charged past her. The hit was probably just luck as it would have been thrashing its tail in the dark, but now Konata had confirmation that she was dealing with an intelligent being, and not just a m mindless monster like the gluttons.

This beast was actively hunting her down, and Konata struggled to her feet careful not to make a noise, and wondering how bad her cut on the shoulder was. She heard smashing too fast to be feet, and realized the monsters was whipping out randomly with its tail in hopes of catching her, and Konata times her retreat with the smashes so it wouldn't overhear her.

A mistime caused her footstep to ring out in a brief silence, and the blue haired girl once again found herself desperately fleeing another charge. She heard its tail whistling through the air, and barely managed to throw herself to the ground in time to dodge. Scrambling back to her feet, Konata ran, hunting for a group of Gluttons to use. She found a group of three of them by running into them literally, and spinning off around them before shouting loudly to draw the monster's attention.

It began its charge, and Konata waited until the sounds were close she couldn't risk randomly dodging while that tail was a factor, so she illuminated the gluttons as it closed in. The monster smashed into the gluttons as all three cut a hole out of it, and Konata rolled under its tail which was swinging through the air at her chest level.

Those weren't small chunks either, and the beast was raging around now angrily searching for the girl until it spotted her light. It approached much more slowly now that it knew this girl posed a real threat to it. Konata nearly panicked when she saw it was sizing her up from a distance, maybe even formulating a strategy like she was.

It gave up its blind charge and began approaching Konata at a brisk walk as she turned her flashlight out, and faded into the night. Konata almost died when its tail smashed down a foot in front of her as it tracked her through the dark. Konata stay perfectly still for a few moments, and realized she wasn't going to get this thing to act recklessly anymore. As much as she hated it, it was now time to attack head on.

Her head on attack plan wasn't so much head on as slinking around with the gluttons until she got in close. She grabbed one of the gluttons when she was close enough to hear the blood and saliva dripping off the big beast, and pushed it away in front of the monster. It reacted by seizing the Glutton in its mouth, a big mistake as its bit set off many of the gluttons own, and one of the four mouths was chomped to pieces.

She grabbed another, and was revolted at its sticky flesh, but she dug her hands into it, and threw it at the monster's legs, using the pressure button on the back of the flashlight for a quick flash. The roar of anger and pain told her that she had hurt the thing badly as it started thrashing again.

Konata made her quiet escape thanking the lord she had such a small frame and wasn't an easy target for this big thing to hit in the dark. It stomped down inches from her, and took noticed when she grunted, and fell flat on the cold metal though. Konata thought she was going to die as she rolled out of the way of this monster's tail smashing the ground where she had been, the teeth there causing a large spark that aggravated the nearby Gluttons.

Konata stood up, and was pummeled away once again by another fierce blow, thankfully no teeth dug into her this time, but she could feel her consciousness fading as she landed on the ground, and bounced. She couldn't keep this up much longer. The Otaku was completely exhausted, she hurt all over, Kagami was gone, she had no idea how much blood she was losing since there was no time to check her wound.

Konata wanted to just pause the game, and go get some ramen or something before coming back to beat the boss, but unfortunately in real life that wasn't an option. Her tired mind was just cognitive enough to grasp that she had hurt this thing, which meant she could beat it. Unfortunately if this thing got a clean attack on her, she was dead, simple as that.

She stalked through the dark approaching the monster silently, covering her noises with its own as she hunted it, now was the time to end this. Konata flipped the flashlight on, and rolled it across the floor, desperately hoping her plan would work. It set off many mouths as it spun and rolled across the floor while Konata tried to keep out of the beam, lest one of the gluttons end up chomping on her.

The big monster regarded the beam of light which had finally stopped moving, and approached it slowly, while Konata came up from its side. She grabbed two Gluttons, which were surprisingly light, and threw one to the ground, as she watched its shadowflesh bubble out of form, she maneuvered the second into place on top of the first, filling its open mouths now caught in the beam, the mouths clamped down on the second glutton, catching on the other mouths of its victim, and not being able to pierce through all the way.

The idea had come from earlier when she had leapfrogged Kagami to dropkick the glutton in the hallway. Now Konata ran, and jumped off the back of the second glutton, and landed on the back of the big monster as it regarded the flashlight lying on the ground. The blue haired girl knew she only had one shot, and this was a crazy plan to begin with, but she held on for dear life as the monster screeched an ear piercing screech of rage.

Konata saw the tail coming through the air, and let go being flung off its back just as its tail impacted its spine. The monster howled, and fell over writing in pain as the blue haired girl forced herself to her feet, not showing any mercy, or giving any quarter to her enemy. She grabbed gluttons one after another, and shoved them towards the monster's soft underbelly, before fetching her light, and playing the beam wildly across the heap of monsters, setting them to biting and chomping each other to pieces.

The thing hissed, and beat at the gluttons and everything around it, and stood up bleeding heavily. Konata knew it was blinded when it didn't charge towards her. It chunks ripped out all over it, and its black blood flowed like a stream out of the wounds all over its body, but there was a flood of fluid on its underside. Konata knew it was dead. It was in its death throes, as nothing could live after losing that much of its fluids.

It thrashed and raged around the whole room before it died smashing every glutton that was left to death, and nearly taking out Konata with a couple tail swings. In its final moments it was pathetic sounding as it wheezed out one last pained roar, and then fell, never to move again.

Konata was all alone now, nothing made a noise at all until the stage lights came back on a few minutes later. They illuminated the whole room filled with corpses of Konata's enemies, and she herself covered with glutton goop, and the big monster's blood as well as her own. Her head felt fuzzy as she sat. Konata wondered if she herself was going to die of blood loss as she checked her shoulder, and couldn't determine how much she was bleeding with her blurry vision.

The whole floor shuddered, and Konata couldn't even rise to her feet as the stage light starting rising up into the endless night above, although the motion of the air told Konata she was actually the one who was sinking. Looks like this arena was actually a big elevator. Konata sat there toying with the light thinking how great it would be to just go home, and fall asleep in Kagami's arms until she noticed a presence a few feet in front of her.

It was Katahaba, he was standing over her, looking between her, and all the dead things on the big elevator. He whistled, and said jovially, "Damn Girl, remind me not to get on your bad side. I definitely would have had to have used my pipe for a big guy like him."

"You were watching?" came Konata's response. She felt a little anger rising in her. She wasn't in the mood for his indestructible positivity.

Katahaba shrugged, and said, "It was all I could do. I was caged in backstage away from you until this crate started sinking."

They were silent for a few moments before Katahaba said, "So...Konata Izumi..."

Konata responded dully, thinking about Kagami introducing them, and getting the sinking feeling that maybe the Tsundere was right, and Katahaba was hiding something from them, "We never told you our last names."

"You never had to...I know you," came Katahaba's response.

The big man wasn't grinning now, and Konata felt a knot in her stomach as her head exploded into pain, but she responded, "I know you too, but I can't remember how!"

Disappointment was evident on the usually happy man's face, as he responded, "Neither can I, but I know you're important. So don't worry, at least for now I won't let anything happen to you guys."

Konata didn't know why, but hearing that relieved her greatly. She was hurting, she was tired, and maybe dying, but worst of all Kagami was missing. Maybe it was because Katahaba had promised to take care of her and Kagami, and looking into the big man's serious eyes when he said it, made her think he wasn't the kind of man who made a claim like that in jest.

Overcome by her weariness, Konata finally passed out on the metal floor amidst the corpses of her enemies.

* * *

><p>Author's note: longer chapter, I tried to make it longer since I might be a couple months before another update. In case anyone was wondering the holiday season is the busiest time of year for a butcher so I have time for nothing other than work and occasionally sleep. Don't think I've abandoned the story though I can't stand to leave something unfinished.<p>

There are probably a few errors left to find but since its four in the morning I'm doubting my proofreading abilities, and I'll get back to the remaining errors later. Hopefully this was worth the wait.

Update:It's been brought to my attention that in Silent hill origins there is also a boss monster called Caliban fought in a theater, for any game fans, I'd like to state THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. Origins was one of two games in the series I hadn't played before i wrote this chapter, my background in theater is what led me to base a monster off Caliban in "The Tempest." Currently I have no plans to alter my chapter with Caliban though.


	6. Encounters

Chapter 6 – Encounters

The world was white.

Everything was shrouded in white.

In some ways it was just like the darkness, the place had a wrongness about it as Kagami stepped out onto the metal stairway exiting the theater from the second floor fire exit. No alarm sounded. Kagami's breath misted in front of her as the cold settled in. The choking heat of the darkness had abated, but now it felt as if it were winter, and the Tsundere wished she had a jacket.

Her stomach felt as if it were alive and writhing in disgust as she left the theater without Konata and made her way down the metal stairs. She sniffed as she thought of her lost girlfriend, but she knew she had to stay strong. There would be no chance of ever seeing her love again if she gave up now.

Kagami looked around as she descended into the small alleyway beside the movie theater, and noticed there were light patches of snow on the ground. There was snow falling all around her, but the fall was light and lazy. It shouldn't have been able to build up like it had in the night she had spent in the theater. Kagami saw everything as she emerged out onto the desolate street that everything seemed way to still to be a city.

Nothing moved anywhere, and she had the feeling that nothing had moved in a very long time. The lavender haired girl stamped her feet, and blew air into her hands to warm them. Her throat burned from her earlier crying, but Kagami's steps were strong as she made her way across the street to a phone booth.

She knew that Konata's cell phone wasn't working, and neither was her own, and Kagami doubted that the phone booth would be working either, but she needed to give it a try. If she had a chance to talk to anyone, and ask them what in the world she could possibly do to get her Kona back she would take it no matter the risk.

Kagami heard a high pitch whistle in the distance, a warbling sound that rose and fell in the upper pitches, and the sound made her stomach turn more as she knew nothing human made a noise like that. The now familiar fear settled in as she waded through the fog, and entered the isolated phone booth in front of a boarded up electronics store.

She entered it and closed the door, hoping she wouldn't be able to hear the whistling anymore through the glass. Now that Kagami was here though, she had no idea who she could call. Who on earth would be able to help her. The Tsundere felt a lump in her throat as she thought again how helpless she was to save Konata, and how nobody could help Kagami either. She really didn't want either her or Kona to die alone or scared or hurting.

Kagami lifted the phone out of its cradle, and dialed without putting any money in. She dialed even though there was no busy tone, or dial tone. There wasn't even a noise as she pressed each button, so each jabbed her heart and resolve as she pressed them. To Kagami's surprise though, the instant she pressed the final number a voice said in the receiver, "Hello?"

Kagami's breath caught in her throat, and the voice repeated its greeting. Kagami knew that voice, it was the voice belonging to the number she had dialed, she had reached Tsukasa! Maybe there was a chance of getting help, if she and Kona, and Katahaba, and James had all made their way into this place then others were bound to have as well.

Kagami said excitedly, "Tsukasa! It's me!"

For the first time since she had awoken in the dusty projector room Kagami felt some form of relief. Maybe Tsukasa could find someone on the outside who knew how to get them out of this awful place. When there was silence for a few moments Kagami's relief faded, after a few more moments of silence she began thinking she had imagined the voice in her desperation to not be alone.

Then Tsukasa said, "Oh, Onee-chan! It's great to hear from you! How's college going?"

A couple tears leaked from Kagami's eyes as she fought her sobs of relief, Tsukasa was really on the phone with her now. Kagami was just about to tell Tsukasa how great it was to hear her voice, and to not be all alone, and everything that was happening when Tsukasa said, "No, she's not really doing so well, and she's still really mad. Konata's sulking in your old room right now, but I think she'll be fine."

Kagami's eyes widened as dread filled her. The voice continued, "I know Sis, she's just had it really rough, so when you left, she felt like you were leaving _her..._No...Sis...I don't think it's a good idea to talk to her right now. She agreed to let you go, and she's really happy that you did, but she isn't ready to talk about it. Heh...Don't worry so much Onee-chan, we'll make sure Kona-chan isn't lonely at all."

This wasn't Tsukasa, or rather it wasn't the current Tsukasa. It was a memory, just like the one when Miyuki had called her on the cell phone earlier. The past Tsukasa continued, "I'll tell her you love her sis. Just make sure you take care of yourself. Every time you call Kona-chan is always asking if you're doing okay without her, and she's been working really hard for the money to pay your tuition, I'll pitch in what I can too, but you have to make sure to do your best. After all, we're all counting on you to make something great of yourself, especially Kona-chan."

That had been the end of the past conversation. Kagami sagged against the wall with despair welling up in her. That had been when she had first left for college, only a few weeks, maybe a month in. Konata had still been so fragile back then. She had just been through the whole ordeal with her father and moved into Kagami's bedroom in the Hiiragi house. As far as the Tsundere knew, the smaller girl still hadn't spoken with her father, not that Kagami blamed her. If she had her way, that man would be dead. At the very least he would be somewhere he could never, ever reach Konata again.

"Onee-chan?"

Tsukasa's voice spoke through the receiver again, startling Kagami. After a moment she said, "Onee-chan, I know you're there."

This hadn't been part of their conversation. Kagami shakily replied, "Tsukasa?"

The other girl sounded relieved, and said, "I was worried you had forgotten how to talk for a minute there Onee-chan."

A little excitement came back to Kagami, this time she _really_ was talking to Tsukasa! She said hurriedly, not knowing how long this opportunity would last, "Tsukasa, listen! You have to help us!"

Tsukasa's replied immediately in a calm, carefree tone, "Oh, I'm not going to help you Onee-chan."

Kagami's plea caught in her throat as Tsukasa giggled on the other end of line, and said, "I hate you, remember? You made Kona-chan give up on her whole life's dream for you. She probably hates you too."

"No...that's wrong," Kagami thought to herself.

The tears she managed to hold back as anger swelled in her. She yelled back, "That's a damn lie! Konata loves me with all her heart! I know she does!"

There was silence for a moment before Tsukasa just outright laughed on the other end as if this was the greatest joke she had ever heard. After her fit of laughter ended she said, "Yeah, you're probably right. She does love you. She has to after all. You took her dream away from her, you're the only thing she has left."

Kagami screamed in rage as she flung the phone to the side, breaking a glass pane out of the phone booth. A couple of her angry tears managed to make it past her attempts to hold them back. Kagami wanted to break some more stuff, she was pissed off beyond belief. She was angry at the unfairness of it all.

"This _place_," she thought, "It's this place. It keeps trying to tear us apart."

The anger grew stronger, and Kagami was almost completely consumed by her hatred for this place. It took her Kona away from her, it tried to kill her, it used her sister's voice to try and break her. This place was evil, and Kagami still had no idea what she could do to get out. She hated feeling so completely, and utterly helpless.

Her mind screamed in defiance of the place, and yet at the same time a little voice whispered in the back of her head. It asked her, "Was Tsukasa's voice lying?"

Kagami shrugged that thought off, of course it was a lie. She loved Konata completely, there could be no doubt, but the voice had hit on a very real fear of Kagami's. She was afraid that Konata would stop loving her. The Tsundere felt stupid as she thought it, but the thought terrified her. Kagami knew she wasn't good enough to deserve someone like Konata, so if Konata ever had something important enough to her, what should stop the smaller girl from moving on?

"She wouldn't..." Kagami whispered aloud. Saying it out loud reassured her much more than her thoughts, so she said, "Konata won't leave me, she loves me as much as I love her!"

The warbling sound came back again, much closer than before. The high pitch and constant wavering created an eerie, unreal sound that made Kagami's head swim, she needed to find shelter from whatever was making the noise. The Tsundere knew she was in no condition to be fighting anything right at the moment, and besides that she had no weapon, or will to fight.

The lavender haired girl stumbled out of the phone booth feeling dizzy, and looked in both directions down the street. She could hardly see anything through the heavy fog, but to her left the warbling noise sounded again, getting closer. Kagami's nerves were frayed, and that sound grated on her even as it made her feel like throwing up.

Fighting a wave of dizziness, she walked quickly towards the electronics store only to see its door was barred from the inside. She sighed in exasperation as she felt the same desperation she had felt in the theater when avoiding those gluttons. Kagami quickly walked around to the right side of the building, aware that it was closer to the monster, but she needed to check down the alleyway, and see if the door on the side of the store had an opening.

She entered the little dark space behind the store, and checked the door there only to find it locked. Now the sound was even closer, and Kagami felt certain that if she walked back out into the street, she would be able to see whatever it was making that awful mind numbing noise. Her vision blurred as the pitch suddenly dropped to a very low tone, and Kagami stumbled, throwing her hand out against the building for support when something gave in.

With a small crash, a table that had been propped up against the broken side window from the inside fell inwards, and Kagami wasted no time in scrambling through the opening into the building. Once inside she grabbed the table and shoved it back into the opening in the window plunging herself into blackness.

All the windows in this place were completely covered, and for all Kagami knew, she had shut herself in with something else, but there was no chance she could handle the thing outside, when just its warbling call made her feel like she would throw up and pass out. She was thankful that the call had somewhat dimmed inside the building, but now she was aware of another noise inside the building.

With her sight gone, her other senses went into overdrive as she quickly marked the location of the crackling noise she heard. It almost sounded like a kid playing with a small candy wrapper, trying to make an annoying noise. Suddenly there was a very loud whistle outside in front of the store, and Kagami sunk to her knees as her vision blurred.

The Tsundere had no idea what was going on as her stomach twisted, and she fought the urge to scream as it felt as if her very mind was being stretched. The crackling noise flared with the warbling whistle, and diminished greatly when the sound ended. Everything was silent for a few minutes besides the steadily fading crackle of whatever was in the store with her. Then the whistle came back from down the road, past the store. The creature was moving on, and a couple minutes later, the crackling died and Kagami was left in silence.

The older twin was afraid to move, she still didn't know what had been making the static sounding noise in here, and definitely didn't want to risk another monster attack. After a minute of logical reasoning though, she considered it would have attacked her probably when she entered and let light into the store if it was going to attack at all. That had been when she was most vulnerable.

Kagami's hands shook as she removed Konata's cell phone from her pocket. She pressed a button pulling it out of sleep mode, and the screen lit with a dim light, she then held in the upper right button to activate the flashlight mode, and her little pool of light spread out a few feet in every direction. She waited for a sudden attack that never came.

After a minute of cringing she got to her feet, and started checking the room out, heading straight towards where the sound had been coming from, wanting to go ahead and get any other surprises out of the way. Of course the shelves were wrecked and many little things like batteries, and cell phones were lying on the ground smashed to pieces. Something had come through and wrecked this place at some point.

Or more likely looking at the barricades set up on each window and the barred door, someone had frantically blocked all the entrances, not caring if he had to smash everything in the store to do it. In the disaster of a store area, behind the counter, Kagami found something odd. A little radio sitting up behind the counter, and on the table itself was a small radio with a dial for tuning frequency that seemed to be broken since it didn't pick up anything.

She was about to leave it when she heard that odd whistle again much further away now, and noticed as the sound reached her, the radio crackled loudly. Kagami was by no means dumb, she instantly recognized this as a way to track the whistling monster. Apparently that whistle was made over some frequency that responded with the radio causing crackling noises, meaning if she got quiet crackling noises, she would know one of those monsters was near.

Kagami took it, and clipped it to the belt loop on her jeans. Something like that was more valuable than a weapon, not that she would mind having one of those.

As Kagami fastened the radio on her light revealed another door behind the counter. Her curiosity piqued, Kagami approached the door, and moved a small display shelf that was blocking it. She noted a small wire wrapped around the bottom leg of the shelf running under the door. Kagami listened carefully at the door for a few moments, and after hearing nothing, she opened it. The Tsundere almost immediately wished she hadn't as there was a dead man in the room, more a skeleton really. The wire connected to the shelf ran right to its hand. Whoever the mummy had been had come in, and pulled the shelf up against the door on the outside using the wire, probably trying to make it look like nobody could be in there.

The dried skin was still intact over the bones, and Kagami could tell that this man had starved to death. Revulsion welled up in her that someone had been trapped in this place long enough to actually starve to death. She knew though, anyone who had lived that long here would have to have kept something that could help her. Something to fight the monsters with at least.

She walked into the tiny closet like room, and searched the shelves on either side wall finding nothing. Her flashlight from Konata's phone illuminated the whole tiny room, except for a dark shadow where the corpse sat in an office chair over a desk used for filing paperwork. Sure enough when Kagami rolled the chair back a little, she found a journal.

Kagami felt a little sad as she thought how this man must have felt all alone, and stuck here, hiding. So afraid he'd rather starve than go look for food. She wondered idly what kind of things he put in this journal. Maybe his fears he would never get out, maybe his rage at being stuck here, or prayers. She opened the dusty notebook and began reading at random as the man detailed what had happened to him since he had awoken in the convenience store he worked at a couple miles away. He had been heading for the police station, looking for help.

_Day 2-_

_This is my second entry, and I'm keeping this journal just in case I disappear like everyone else,_

_maybe I can at least help someone by writing down anything I find out._

_I've decided to head for the police station about ten miles from the store here._

_I was so scared yesterday after I went outside and couldn't find anyone_

_that I spent the night where I work. I still don't_

_know what happened to me. _

_One minute I was at work, and I guess I dozed off since there hadn't been any customers. The next_

_thing I knew I woke up, and the whole world was empty. I looked around for anybody,_

_and I couldn't find anyone. Everything's so foggy, and this snow is unnatural._

_The whole time I've been here it hasn't been night, but I know more_

_than a day has passed._

_I'll sleep now, but tomorrow I'm walking to the Police Station since none of the vehicles will start._

Kagami read on, and saw the man's ignorance of his situation. Up until his first encounter with the whistlers that was.

_Day 5_

_I say Day 5, but I'm just keeping track by how many times I've needed to sleep. Today I ran into a_

_strange creature, no a monster. It kept making a horrible noise like a whistle. At first it didn't seem_

_interested in me, but it stayed in the area of the house I was hiding in, and every time it called, my_

_hands would shake._

_The thing had really long arms, and I could tell when it whistled it was looking for something._

_I tried to sneak past it, but it whistled when I was about ten feet away, and I think that's how it spotted_

_me. It came right up to me with its steady stride, and I thought for sure I was going to die. It's long_

_spindly arm moved towards my hands, and suddenly a little sharp serrated talon extended from the_

_end._

_It was over in a flash, I just saw a blur of motion as it swiped at me. The next thing I knew it had_

_cut my watch off of my wrist without even touching me. The talon sunk back into its skinny arm, and_

_then a small hand came out of the same pinprick hole the talon had squeezed into. It picked my watch_

_up off the ground, and wandered off seemingly pleased with itself._

_I can't believe something like that could even exist, I'm sorry I'm not a writer to whoever reads this, I_

_could never describe it accurately, but it's something out of a horror movie for sure._

The Tsundere wondered why the man hadn't been as affected by the whistle as she had. She had felt as if the whistling was trying to rip her mind right out of her head. She read on entranced by the man's experiences.

_Day 15_

_I call them the Takers._

_When they whistle it's not actually a form of tracking. They're searching for something they feel they_

_absolutely must have. I've met two other people, and both are dead now because the Takers wanted_

_them._

_When they whistle, the thing they're searching for is pulled towards them, and if its pulled within a_

_certain proximity that seems to be about ten feet away from them, they can sense its presence. Their_

_arms make no sense at all. The left arm seems to be a physical arm they use for smashing things, and_

_so far, even though the arms is skinny it seems hard enough to smash a hole in pretty much anything._

_The right arm is the really dangerous one though, it moves too fast to track, and I call it the collecting_

_arm. There's a tiny pinprick sized hole, and out of that hole its hand comes, but its hand on the right_

_arm seems to be whatever it needs at the time to properly collect the object it wants._

_Once they become aware of what they want, they pursue it tirelessly. I have one searching for me right_

_now. I can hear it calling to my tie. Every time it whistles I feel my chest drawn towards it._

_I feel like I should leave my tie for it, and run since it's only_

_interested in my tie for now, but after it gets my tie it'll be back searching for something else I have,_

_something it wants, until it wants something I can't do without._

_I met a man named Takeo, he was running from one as it strode after him. I hid him in this electronics_

_shop, and the Taker after him immediately started smashing through the window on the side of the_

_building, I bet it would have come through even if it had to smash straight through the wall._

_It strode in through the hole it made, and turned its right hand into a spoon shape, and just scooped_

_Takeo's heart right out of his chest._

_It was like it was getting a spoonful of hot butter for all the resistance there was. It ignored me, and left_

_with Takeo's heart, and I haven't seen it since._

Kagami's stomach turned as she realized this meant that the one after her had been calling out to her head, or maybe her brain. She would have to step _very_ lightly, and make sure she never got close enough to one of the Takers to lose her head. Still the horror she had read paled in comparison to the man's final discovery. The last page was caked with blood.

_Day 28_

_I'm a dead man. Even though I managed to stop the bleeding,_

_all the roads are caved in, and there's no way to the police station. I doubt it would be_

_any better there than it is here though. For whoever finds this, remember well. The radio can track_

_them. I might not be able to fight the one after me, but at least it can't sneak up on me anymore._

_Not that it matters now, I've decided since I'm already starving to wait it out in this closet. It won't be able to track me in here since it stays outside. The last time I was close to it was three days ago, I felt it_

_pulling at my throat, and I know the next thing it takes will be my life. When it whistles nearby my_

_throat clamps shut and I can't breathe as it tries to pull me towards it. Before that I had set up an_

_experiment since the creatures didn't seem violent unless they needed to smash something between_

_them and their item._

_It wanted my wallet. I knew it, so I dropped my wallet when it was coming past, and when it whistled,_

_and found my wallet, I followed it. It walked into a dark alleyway about a mile from here, and I found_

_a bunch of them there. They all ignored me even though occasionally they sounded off whistles I_

_couldn't feel. As I was surrounded by them I was oddly at peace, I knew I could die at any moment, but_

_the creatures weren't interested in taking me so I was safe. The thing that scared me so badly though_

_was the markings. Each Taker has different yellow markings on their bug like carapace. Once I got to_

_where the Taker was bringing my wallet I saw it had made a pile of all the things it had taken from me._

_It's just one! Even though there are hundreds of these things, this whole time only one of them has been_

_hunting me! This same god damn thing has tracked me this whole time, ignoring others just like the_

_other Takers ignored me._

_It dropped my wallet in the pile and immediately sounded off another whistle to locate me._

_Unfortunately for me I was standing right next to it, thinking myself safe while it had my wallet._

_Apparently it can find my general location even from very far away, but right then it took my left pinky._

_It sliced it clean off, I hardly felt a thing until the blood spurted, and I ran clutching it as tight as I_

_could. The next whistle I felt choke me, it seems my taker has finished playing with me. He doesn't _

_want my boots or my glasses or my journal anymore, now he wants me, but he won't get me, oh no. I_

_have plenty of water, I'll stay here forever if I have to._

Kagami felt sick as she realized exactly what she was up against here. Some sick creature bent on torturing you by taking all you have, and when it feels your fun is wearing out, it takes you life. She knew from this journal as long as she was careful, she could stay away from it, but it would hunt her indefinitely unless she either found a way to kill it, or put enough distance between them that it could never find her.

As Kagami heard the whistle of the creature back out on the street again, she didn't know if she was capable of either one.

* * *

><p>Katahaba sat outside the door of the room he had left Konata in. Inside there was a bed, and he had bandaged her wounds, she would be fine once she woke up since it hadn't been a particularly severe injury. At least not compared to the sorts of injuries he was used to seeing. When James sliced someone up, the result wasn't something that could be bandaged. The big monster had been sloppy compared to his big bro. James would have destroyed it without breaking a sweat Katahaba was sure.<p>

That wasn't the sort of thing he needed to focus on though, right now Konata was fine, and he needed to move on so he could find James, but he was having a little trouble with the decision to leave the Otaku behind. He could do it in good conscience since he had bandaged her, and left her that flashlight as well as a knife she could use once he was gone, but he was still having trouble leaving her.

Even Katahaba could tell that she was important, and he knew her, but he couldn't figure out how. He needed to catch up, and save his beloved big bro, but something was keeping him from leaving this blue haired girl alone. He desperately wished he was smarter so that he could tell what he needed to do. It wasn't like Konata was going to join his family like James and Creed had, so there should be no reason for him to have trouble leaving her in this safe place.

It wasn't safe though, it was dark here, the world hadn't shifted back since Konata had fought the lizard, so it was still dangerous no matter where they went, but Katahaba could handle the monsters, he was pretty sure Konata could too after seeing the way she had handled the big lizard from before.

Katahaba didn't flinch as a little blue haired woman walked past him, and sat down next to him leaning against the door to Konata's recovery room. He had seen her plenty of times since he was a little kid, and she wasn't an enemy, so he smiled at the woman with the green eyes and white dress. He said, "Hey, it's been a while. It's good to see you."

The woman seemed radiant in this place, she usually seemed brighter than everything else when Katahaba saw her, but in this dark place she almost shined. The big man was pretty sure that the woman wasn't human because of the way she always appeared out of nowhere, and vanished just as abruptly, but he knew she was a good person, so he didn't care if she was a human or not.

The shining lady with the pale white skin spoke to Katahaba, saying, "You're a good boy, Jacob. Why are you in a place like this?"

Katahaba responded casually, "Well, I have to find James. Everybody's worried about him, except for Creed who's mad at him for leaving us, so I need to bring him back, right?"

She reached over and patted his shoulder, saying, "You don't have to try so hard Jacob. There are plenty of people who are happy just seeing you happy."

He grinned sheepishly as he thought of his family, and said, "I know, but that just makes me want to take care of them all even more. I think that's how a family should work."

The short blue haired woman nodded to him before motioning to the door they leaned against. Now the woman sounded stressed as she asked, "I need to ask you something, though. Why did you call her here?"

Katahaba looked at the woman in confusion, and asked, "What do you mean? _She's_ the one who called me. I never would have gotten into this world if she hadn't pulled me in, but I'm glad she did, because I'm so close to James now I can almost feel his presence. He has to be here."

The white clad woman frowned, and said, "So she called you, huh? I guess that makes sense. It's only natural when you two came so close to each other that she'd call out."

"What do you mean?" asked the big man quickly becoming lost in this complicated talk.

The woman stood up, and ruffled Katahaba's hair, and said, "Can you do me a favor?"

He responded immediately, "Anything."

The woman then said, "Take care of her for me alright? That girl is someone very, very important to me. Almost as important as you are, alright?"

Katahaba nodded, and stood up beside the woman, completely dwarfing her as he was a good foot taller than her, maybe a little more. He told her, "If she's important to you, then I'll protect her with everything I have, alright?"

The blue haired woman nodded, and said earnestly, "Thank you Jacob, please do."

The radiant lady took a couple steps away from Katahaba, and he said to her, "Hey...do you know how I know her?"

The woman turned around, and smiled her gentle smile at him, it really made Katahaba feel warm inside that someone could smile at him with so much love. The woman responded, saying, "It's not my place to tell you, although I'm sure she'll let you know who you are when the time is right."

The lady turned and strode away from Katahaba becoming more translucent with each step until she finally faded completely. Everything was dark again without her here to light it up, and he wanted to turn his flashlight on, but he had given it to Konata, so he would wait for her to wake up and turn it on. Hopefully he wouldn't be eaten by a Grue while he waited. The big man whispered aloud, "But I already know who I am..."

* * *

><p>Author's note: Alright, I finally wrote another chapter for this, and I'm quite pleased with it, I know these sorts of stories aren't very popular, but I won't abandon this story for my other one, I'll work on them both. I'm still dedicated to the ones who DO read this, even if there aren't nearly as many as in the main Lucky Star section.<p>

As usual I want to thank you all for reading, and welcome any and all criticism, as I've said before and will say again, I'm dedicating to making my stories the best they can be for you guys, so I hope you enjoy reading this.


	7. White Noiz

Chapter 7 – White Noiz

Black covered the ceiling above.

It seemed the black was also choking at her heart.

_When was the first time I met her?_

Of course it had been at the train station. The day after she had befriended Tsukasa. Konata boarded the train looking for Tsukasa since she had found out they both rode the same train to school every day. It was only natural that the little Otaku felt nervous, after all, if she blew this, then her first shot at making a high school friend would be gone.

Konata spotted Tsukasa at the far end of her car, in the corner, sitting next to another girl who looked similar. The other girl was a little taller, and had twin tails though, and Konata's breath caught in her throat, as her mind screamed, "Real life Tsundere!"

Konata turned away from the two in the middle of the cart aisle, and began sweating buckets, thinking, "I'm not ready for this. It's only my second week of high school, and I just met the airhead, there's no way I'm ready for the Tsundere route!"

Konata gasped in shock as she felt a few taps on her back, and turned to see Tsukasa, and the unknown Tsundere next to her. They both looked a little worried at the intense look Konata was giving them, and Tsukasa said quietly, "Kona-cha-"

The airhead was cut off by Konata pointing to the twin-tailed girl, and shouting, "I wasn't looking at your Tsundere!"

_When did we become friends?_

"Tsukasa, you can find a much better friend than _her_!"

It was after school, and their group, Tsukasa, Miyuki, and Konata had cleaning duty, Konata had skipped out under the guise of getting drinks for them all, but Kagami, who had come over after class to wait on her friends knew the little Otaku was just putting the real work off on Tsukasa and Miyuki.

Tsukasa felt a vein throbbing in her forehead as she dealt with Kagami, for days Kagami had been insisting that Konata was a bad influence, but Tsukasa would never give up on one of her friends, and insisted that Konata was a great friend, she was just hard to understand.

"She's lazy, perverted, she has absolutely no plans for the future, she slacks off in class-"

"Don't tell me who I can be friends with Onee-chan!"

Kagami's eyes widened as she recoiled from Tsukasa's unexpected outburst, and Tsukasa continued at a raised volume that was scary from her, but still not quite a yell, "You always go on about all of her bad points, but Kona-chan's sweet, and nice. She always tries to make me laugh whenever I have a bad day, and she always includes me in anything she's doing even if I can't understand all of it."

Konata had just walked into the classroom at the beginning of the argument, neither of them even knew she was there, but now she said, "Tsukasa, it's fine, don't get in a fight over me."

Both twins turn to face the smaller girl looking scared and embarrassed about what her reaction might be to their argument. Konata just smiled, and said, "My mom always wanted to be a mother, and even though she could have lived if she didn't have me, she went through with it anyways. Honestly, I shouldn't even be alive, but somehow she pulled through just long enough to give birth to me."

The other three girls looked on as Konata paused, and Kagami saw the smaller girl's bottom lip tremble. She felt like she was choking on the silence in the air as they waited for Konata to continue. After a few seconds the smaller girl said, "It's really sad...she went through all that pain because she always wanted to raise a kid of her own, but she died just having me, so she never got to be a mother the way she wanted. That's why my plan for the future is the same as hers. I can make up for it by having a baby too, but I'm more healthy than she was, so I'm going to raise my baby, and always be there for it to make her proud. It may not look like I focus on school things Kagami, because I want to learn cooking, and cleaning and caring, and since I have to get my anime time in too, there just isn't enough left for focusing on school."

The joke tacked onto the end seemed forced, and Konata knew it as she looked down at her feet, afraid she was about to lose her friends after being all serious with them out of nowhere. The hand on her shoulder was an unexpected one. Kagami patted her shoulder, and said, "Konata...I'm sorry. I misjudged you."

Konata smiled just a little, and replied, "See, I've got more important things to do than you thought Kagamin!"

The Tsundere folded her arms, and said forcefully, "That's no reason to be slacking on your schoolwork, I may have been a big jerk before, but you should know if the father of your baby runs out on you, _you'll_ be the one working to support it, also you don't know when you're going to meet this guy, so you'll need schoolwork and college to get a good job, and build a stable future for yourself even before the baby, also don't call me Kagamin, it's embarrassing."

"Actually, I already know the father." responded Konata shocking her three friends.

_When did I start loving her?_

"Konata. I know you're having some really personal problems, but remember, you can come tell me anytime..."

Konata stopped walking, and turned back to look at Kagami. They were in Akiba now, walking back from another one of Konata's impulsive shopping sprees. As usual Kagami was carrying most of the bags, but this time she didn't look annoyed so much as worried. Konata's usual cheer was gone, and she had hardly smiled at all the whole time despite being surrounded by anime.

"Kagami..."

Konata said it quietly, and the Tsundere gave her a big smile, and said, "You're my best friend Konata, so if you ever need to talk about anything, just come tell me, I'll listen anytime."

A grin made its way onto the Otaku's face, and she replied, "Kagamin's dere-dere is the cutest!"

Kagami grumbled about the Otaku reply, but then said, "I'm not joking around Konata..."

The little Otaku kept her grin, and said, "Thanks Kagamin. I'll keep that in mind."

_Why had she stayed when everything had gone to hell?_

Konata walked quietly through the park next to Kagami. She hadn't said much in the last few days, but she had suddenly called Kagami to meet her here at the park. Kagami's heart was beating a mile a minute as she walked next to her crush. After a few minutes of walking to an isolated side of the park, Konata stopped suddenly. Kagami kept going a few steps before she realized her friend had stopped, and turned to face her.

Konata's next sentence broke Kagami's heart.

"We're going to start trying to get pregnant next week."

Kagami just gaped, their High School graduation was only a week away.

"I'll be the same age my mom was when she got pregnant with me. That's really important to me."

Another blow, stomping on Kagami's shattered heart. The younger girl had recently come to love Konata very much. Her sweetness was infectious, and there was just something about her carefree spirit that Kagami could never get enough of. First she sputtered, then Kagami tried to argue, saying, "No way! You're too young! You need to live a little first, besides, we haven't even met this guy yet, how can you have kids with some guy who hasn't even met your best friends?"

Konata responded, "It's probably best if you guys don't meet him. I'm probably going to leave him after I get pregnant anyways."

Shocked would be an understatement of how Kagami felt, "That's idiotic Konata! Who's going to support you and your baby if you do that! I know you always mooch off of everyone, but there's a limit!"

Kagami stopped as she saw the tears flowing down Konata's cheeks. It was the first time she had ever seen Konata cry, and the Tsundere had had no idea how many more of those tears she would see in the next few weeks.

Konata glomped Kagami, and the bigger girl accepted her, patting her back as Konata sobbed, "I can't help it! I hate him so much, but if I leave him then who else is there! I have to have my baby, it's been my only dream for my whole life! He's the only one who can do this for me...I just hate this whole situation...I just-"

Konata was cut off by Kagami's lips on her own. For just a few moments her eyes widened in shock, then they slowly closed as Kagami wrapped her arms more firmly around Konata, holding the kiss for another ten seconds before they separated to catch their breath.

"Konata..."

Kagami's face started glowing red as the reality of what she had done settled over her, Konata's big mystified eyes looked up at the Tsundere from only inches away. Kagami released Konata, whose arms slumped to her sides instantly, and Kagami said, "I love you Konata...so...so,"

Her face turned even redder as she confessed, and it looked as if Kagami might burn up from a combination of her nervousness and embarrassment. All of a sudden, Kagami was mad, after all, this was how she usually reacted to these feelings. These unfair feelings that only Konata could give her, as much as she always wanted to separate herself from the constant annoyance of Konata in her mind, the blue haired girl was the only one who ever gave the Tsundere this feeling of happiness, the feeling of calmness deep in her heart, and so the angry Kagami finished her confession with, "So...you''ll just have to deal with it."

A loud white noise blared through Konata's mind, making her aware of her headache.

Konata awoke on an uncomfortable spring mattress. It creaked as she rolled to the side, swinging her legs over the edge. Dim light in the room came from a glowing television showing nothing but static. Konata groaned as she tried to work out some of the stiffness in her arm from where her shoulder had been hurt.

Questions drifted through her mind now that she was finally present, the foremost among them being how she could possibly find Kagami. The Otaku knew she absolutely _must_ find her Tsundere. Neither of them were any good in this place all alone, but together Kona believed they had a chance at doing anything.

An emptiness had taken hold in her heart as she thought about being separated from Kagami. The old bitterness of being alone came back with some memories that leaked through her coherent thoughts when she let her mind wander. She started as the quiet white noise from the television blared static, and then formed voices. This place was still playing games with her and Kagami it seemed.

"_Kagamin..."_

"_Konata? Konata, what are you doing calling so late?"_

"_I'm at the train station by your house Kagamin...please come get me..."_

"_You sound terrible, are you alright?"_

"_I left him Kagami...please...please just come here. I picked you."_

"_Konata, just stay there, alright, I'll be there in a few minutes, don't move a muscle."_

"_Kagamin?"_

"_What is it? Don't worry about telling me anything now, just wait until I get you back here to talk."_

"_Can you still love me Kagami?"_

"_..."_

"_Kagami, are you still there?"_

"_Konata...you know I'll always love you."_

The television crackled, and resumed its quiet eternal broadcast of white noise again. A single tear made its way down the blue haired girl's cheek. That was from a time she'd rather not think about if at all possible, and yet those times always surfaced in her mind when she was alone. She felt like the television on the counter across from the bed, silently waiting in the dark, hoping someone would one day have a use for it, but there was never anyone here.

They would both just wait in the darkness forever.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump at the door which caused Konata to jump. She was going to remain quiet, after all she had no idea where she was, or what could be on the other side of the door, but a familiar voice spoke up, "Hey, I heard some moving around in there, are you awake?"

Konata's tired mind struggled to put a face to that door muffled voice, and after a few seconds, she remembered Katahaba. She called out, "Yeah, you can come in."

Her sentence was punctuated with the door opening, and the big man striding in. He glanced around the room, and muttered, "There wasn't a TV there when I first put you in here."

Konata chuckled bitterly, and replied, "I think we've both seen stranger things than that here."

Katahaba nodded, and said, "Yeah, but that's not a good sign. When things are constantly changing is when it's the most dangerous here."

The little Otaku nodded, but something seemed strange to her. Katahaba's usual grin wasn't there, he didn't seem to be in a good mood which was actually pretty normal considering the circumstances, but she had gotten the feeling that nothing killed this man's good mood, or at least he wouldn't handle any situation with anything other than happiness.

He seemed to pick up on her observing him, and said quietly, "We're not alone anymore. I can hear them."

Konata instantly understood, and nodded. She strained her ears, only hearing the light static of the television, but after a few seconds of focusing she could hear it too. Coming from further down the long hallway outside the room.

_Clack clack clack clack_

It sounded like an animal's claws clicking against a tiled floor. Not a frightening sound anywhere else, but here that clacking could be any manner of nightmarish creature. Konata shuddered as she pictured what might belong to that clacking noise, and Katahaba wasn't looking particularly enthused either. After a few moments of waiting, the clacking faded into the distance, but since outside there was only a hallway, they had the choice of heading back to the inactive elevator they had come down on, or pressing forward towards whatever creatures waited ahead.

The big man pointed next to the television set, and Konata followed his finger to spot a decent sized knife lying there in a sheathe. Konata quietly examined it after picking the object up. It was serrated on one side, with a flat blade on the other. Not a hunting knife, but an actual combat knife judging by the shape of the blade.

Konata took the knife and sheathe, and clipped them to her left side belt loop for easy access. At the very least, she wasn't unarmed any more, maybe stuck in the dark with a total stranger, and monsters for company with Kagami missing, but at least she had a weapon now, and as strange as it was in their hopeless situation, it made the blue haired girl feel better, even if only a little.

Katahaba was the first to act. He motioned with his head towards the door, indicating that he wanted to get moving. Konata didn't have any objections to that, and followed him out of the tiny room. She took one last look at her small safe haven. All there was to see was a bed on the right hand side, and the television glowing on the counter on the left. As she closed the door quietly behind them, her last thought was of how the television would wait there glowing forever. Never being used again. Never seen by anyone again. Konata couldn't help but wonder if she would be any different.

* * *

><p>It was cold.<p>

Kagami's mind kept repeating that thought over and over as the snow fell around her. The Tsundere's ears were tingling with the first hints of numbness, and she stayed completely focused on the radio attached at her waist. It had given a couple crackles since she had left the electronics store, but so far she had managed to stay undetected from the creature that was pursuing her.

Kagami had yet to see it, but she didn't particularly want to see it if she had a choice in the matter. The description in the diary she had found earlier was more than enough to last her a lifetime, she didn't need to actually experience the creature close up.

Kagami stopped for just a moment to stamp her feet and warm up. The quick taps broke the utter silence around her, and the lavender haired girl shuddered as she imagined what may be looking in on her from outside the blanket of white that lay in all directions. Kagami's breath misted in front of her, and her eyes strained at the outlines of cars and buildings outlined in the fog.

"Where do I go?" she whispered quietly to herself.

Kagami hugged herself and shuddered, whispering again, "Where are you?"

A gentle breeze disturbed the Tsundere's hair, and she started at the sudden feel. She started again when out of the corner of her eye she saw something. Focusing on where she had seen it off to her left, Kagami raced towards the hazy outline of a building.

_Could it be real?_

_Was she really there!_

Kagami rushed up to the small gray building and placed her hands up against the wall before panting a few times and sagging to the ground. For just a moment she had thought she had seen a flash of blue coming from this direction. All that was here though was cold, unfeeling stone.

The sidewalk under Kagami's knees was colder than the air seeping into her skin. And yet it was nothing compared to the coldness of her heart. She mused about how long it had been since she hadn't been able to talk to Konata. Years, at the very least she had always been able to call the smaller girl whenever she felt like it just to talk about random things. Now there was nothing.

Konata had disappeared, and the worst part was Kagami had only been able to watch. She wished she could pretend she hadn't heard the roaring noise as she had lost consciousness earlier. She tried to pretend that her Kona hadn't been trapped with something that could make an awful roar like that, but the longer she remained in this place, the less hazy her memory became of how helpless she had really been to save Konata.

Despite her promises to always be there for the smaller girl, the simple fact was that there was no way Kagami could have stayed with her. Not when the world itself was forcing them apart. A light crackle from the radio at her hip got Kagami on her feet, and out of her memories.

She continued down the street the way she had been going, wondering if this street would end in a massive bottomless collapsed chasm leaving no way to pass like the other streets she had tried following. Kagami made her way through the fog swathed road, keeping an eye out for anything to move, not knowing if there were any dangers around here besides the Takers.

So far, it seemed it was only her and them, or it rather if the others were indeed not after her. Kagami felt empty not being able to fall back on her logic. At any other stressful time in her life, when she hadn't been able to deal with what was happening she had always set aside her feelings and reasoned out the most appropriate response. Now though, there was no appropriate response. How does one's logic explain the world emptying out, or being wrecked, followed by it being populated with grotesque monsters not even a kid could believe in.

Kagami stopped dead in her tracks.

She shivered.

Maybe twenty feet away was _her_ outline in the fog.

"Konata!" Kagami cried out, seeing the shadow of Konata's long her swish as the smaller girl turned on her heels an ran.

Kagami chased after her, breath steaming in front of her contrasting with the fog around her. Kagami called out, "Konata! It's me, you don't have to run!"

The shadow ahead of her got faster in response, so Kagami doubled her effort, feeling her lungs burn as she tried in vain to advance on her lover's shadow in the mist. After almost a minute Konata faded into the distance, and even though Kagami kept running while hearing her footsteps echo all around in the silence, she knew she couldn't keep up with Konata if the Otaku didn't want to be caught.

Kagami couldn't keep her run up for much longer and stumbled to a stop, lowering her hands down to her knees while she caught her breath. Her heartbeat hammered in her ears, and yet the Tsundere still went stiff when she heard, "Psst."

It was a distinct hiss-like noise, a noise used just to draw her attention. The noise can from her left hand side, and Kagami looked that way slowly, seeing only the vacant window of some dress shop. It was pitch black behind the window, but the sound had been too distinct for Kagami to think she had imagined it.

Suddenly Kagami had an urge to just run away, she knew she shouldn't investigate strange noises in this place. Besides that she needed to go the way Konata had gone. Konata was the most important thing right, and yet her own footstep towards the vacant building startled her as its small click broke the silence.

The noise cleared her head, and Kagami looked around quickly. The radio was silent, there were no shadows, and the more she thought about it, the more she was sure this place was trying to mess with her head again. First it had taken Konata, then it pretended to be her little sister. Now it was showing her a shade of her love, and probably trying to draw her even deeper into its mind games.

Kagami focused just on breathing normally, and not thinking for a minute. With all of her thoughts pushed to the side, she evaluated her situation. The Tsundere was lost, she was cold, she was stranded and all alone. When she tried to look logically again, she decided she could be much worse given the monsters she had encountered.

"I'm still alive." the lavender haired girl said aloud.

Her voice gave her strength once again, and she advanced on the window of the dress shop, noticing as she came closer, a red page stuck in the center of the window. There was distinct white writing on the red page, and Kagami felt a chill as she looked at it.

This had been left just for her.

Kagami didn't know how she knew it, but she was absolutely certain that if a thousand people had passed this way, and looked at the shop, not a single one of them would have seen this besides her. She stood back a good foot from it, examining the writing.

It seemed to be either some crazy religious paper, or perhaps a page on paranormal science theory, but the more Kagami read, the less she liked that something like this had been left for her.

_**Spiritual Conception**_

_All should know the mechanics behind basic conception, the joining of a _

_man and woman can create the necessary conditions for creating_

_a physical body for a spirit to inherit._

_It is worth mentioning however that the physical genes of the two parents_

_are not what creates the soul that chooses to reside in_

_the physical shell._

_More often than not that spirit is born of the parents spiritual energy._

_Every living creature on this Earth has a soul,and each soul has _

_a distinct pattern made from the untraceable energy_

_that makes up the soul. This will be referred to as _

"_Aura"_

_These Auras that exist in every creature cannot be seen or measured_

_in any known way, and yet there is evidence of patterns in_

_each individual Aura. It can be seen through certain_

_rituals that a spirit can be "Called."_

_It is a summoning of sorts in which the pattern of one creature's Aura_

_is seen to pull in the Aura which has the pattern that naturally_

_completes their own. I believe in common society_

_this would be known as Soul Mates._

_These patterns in each Aura will naturally seek completion, and will _

_pull the second half of their pattern towards them steadily even_

_over incredibly large distances._

_This particular phenomenon will be known as "Resonance"_

_Even though the above information may seem off topic for the title, they are of the utmost_

_importance when discussing the conception of a soul. A soul or spirit must be_

_conceived just as a physical body. When Resonance completes, _

_the combined spiritual energy of the two Soul Mates creates_

_a new Aura, which searches immediately_

_for a body to inhabit._

_This phenomenon also raises some questions, even if our data shows this_

_to be accurate to some degree, does it not mean that possibly the_

_souls of our very own children are not born from the_

_souls of us, the parents._

_In theory it is possible to have physical conception even when_

_the two who initiated the conception are not Soul Mates._

_I would believe particularly that this is very common._

_The body will be nurtured by the mother's body,_

_and await an Aura to inhabit it._

_Meanwhile when two unrelated Auras reach Resonance nearby, the _

_weakened spirit formed from the Resonance will seek a _

_shelter in the physical body being nurtured_

_by the aforementioned mother._

_This would be the point of Spiritual Conception where the young Aura is completed,_

_and inhabits a physical body so it can be maintained and grow._

_I believe these weak, just conceived auras to be very fragile in nature. They will_

_break down and disappear very quickly without a physical body to sustain them._

_The reverse I believe to also be true in that a physical shell is simply a shell_

_without the Spiritual Conception. _

_In the cases where no Auras are able to inhabit the physical shell, I believe the _

_body is aborted. Leading to stillbirth or miscarriage._

_These beliefs imply many things about who we are as a people, if these findings can be _

_proven to be absolutely true, it will show that all people are connected._

_My wife could be nurturing the spirit made from the Resonance of our neighbors._

_In that sense, every single person on this planet would be a spiritual family._

_In regards to the study of Auras themselves which the sponsors of my research_

_are interested in, I believe under the right conditions a soul can be "Farmed"_

_A specific soul can be made for a specific purpose, or with the use of_

_the rituals provided from our sponsors a specific Aura can be called_

_to inherit a specific physical shell._

_This of course is all conjecture based solely on my personal_

_experience with these rituals though, and as stated earlier,_

_this spiritual energy can't be measured by any known tools._

_At this point in scientific theory we are simply making inferences to explain the_

_things we have seen here. It will be a while yet before _

_conclusive evidence is found._

Kagami shivered. Her logical mind could grasp at the points the paper was making, but at the same time that simple recognition paled to the question of why was this paper here? Why was it left for her? The Tsundere covered the last two steps to the page, and pulled it off the dress shop window. After removing the page though Kagami froze with it halfway to her pocket. She could feel herself being watched.

The Tsundere heard from only inches in front of her, "Psst."

Kagami knew she should just back away slowly, and forget this building ever existed, and yet, she looked into the window, and screamed. She barely had time to register the large red orbs behind the glass before she heard the glass breaking, and felt a strong grip on her head, crushing it, and pulling her in.

The black was everywhere.

It was sucking her in.

_"I hate you, remember? You made Kona-chan give up on her whole life's dream for you. She probably hates you too." _

Kagami felt a vein stick out in her forehead. That was a lie.

"_I hate you Onee-chan."_

No. It wasn't true, Kagami knew Tsukasa would never say something like that.

"_I wish you were dead! Die Onee-chan!"_

The too happy voice of Tsukasa Hiiragi's voice came from everywhere, and nowhere. Kagami couldn't breathe and her lungs burned while her mind fought not to panic. She could feel the darkness crushing her like a physical object, and could see nothing, in any direction. The crushing _hurt_.

Every bit of her body felt like it was being crushed slowly into nothing. If her whole world wasn't darkness she would have screamed, but she didn't have a mouth to scream with. If Kagami had had tear ducts she would have cried as the life was crushed out of her. If she had had bones, they would have snapped loudly as they were crushed in by the relentless beating of the dark.

If Kagami had had a heart it would have thundered so hard in her last moments it would have shook the world, but Kagami Hiiragi didn't have any of those things anymore.

Everything was darkness.

Her only presence was pain, and the last vestiges of coherent thought. Kagami accepted the pain, she wasn't scared to hurt anymore. Kagami accepted the dark, the dead didn't need to see, and Kagami accepted that she would die hurting, alone, and in the dark.

What Kagami did _not_ accept was Tsukasa. Her mind would not accept a Tsukasa who would hurt anyone. Kagami could feel a tear on her cheek even through the blinding pain that encompassed the rest of her reality.

Kagami would not accept a Tsukasa who said hateful things. The dying Tsundere's lungs burned as she struggled for a few final breaths against the dark.

She wouldn't accept that her sweet baby sister would do anything she didn't believe was in the best interests of everyone she loved, even if Tsukasa had to give up on her own happiness to make someone happy, Kagami knew that her baby sister was the type of person who was strong enough to do just that to help everyone she loved.

Kagami Hiiragi would never, _ever_, accept that this darkness could be her sister, even if all the rules of reality were gone, and absolutely anything were possible, this darkness wasn't her Tsukasa. She wouldn't _let_ it be Tsukasa.

_Nee-chan...Thank You._

Kagami's world exploded into white as she was hurled out of the dress shop, and rolled across the pavement feeling several scrapes and sore spots she knew would be bruises. She gasped for breath as air filled her lungs, and even the silence of this world seemed loud in comparison to the all encompassing darkness that had ejected her.

Her weak shaky breath sounded ragged, and her muscles were worn down, Kagami felt like she could sleep for a hundred years in that spot, but she knew Tsukasa would never want that. Tsukasa would never want her big sister to give up, and so Kagami pushed her trembling body upwards, and onto her unsteady feet as she stumbled with dizziness and weariness.

Kagami's blurry vision looked towards the broken window of the dress shop, and at the two red orbs in its center regarding her. She could feel its loathing of her entire being as she looked into its stare, and yet it was the one that broke their gaze. Kagami could tell, she had beaten it, or rather her and her sister had beaten it together.

Kagami sobbed once with relief, and stumbled further down the street. Her tears were joyful as she made her way towards the closest building that could offer shelter. She just kept thinking, "I'm not alone here. I still have people who love me. I _will_ save her, and bring us back to them."

The Tsundere, in her daze, almost thought she could see the shadow of someone who looked a whole lot like her little sister leading her by her hand into the small house a little ways down from the dress shop, but her mind was still too busy recovering from the creature's attack to think anything of it.

Kagami made her way up to a small two story house's porch, and thankfully its blue door was unlocked. She was too weary to check the house for threats, and immediately made her way to a large couch she could see from the entryway after locking the door behind her.

She fell on it with her full weight, immediately feeling sleep dragging her consciousness down, and Kagami passed out. Before her consciousness faded, she vowed one more time, she _would_ find Konata. No matter what, she wouldn't let this place stop her.

Hours passed as the girl lay silent there on the soft couch, she was completely oblivious to the large black man who came in through the back door, and made his way through to the living room where he noticed her. At first he tensed up, almost as if expecting her to attack him all of a sudden, but after hearing her steady, rhythmic breathing for a minute, he relaxed, and settled down into a chair across from the sleeping Tsundere.

This man was a big black man standing at six feet tall, and heavily muscled. His bald head glinted just a little in the dim light coming from outside. He wore a black formal suit with a tie, and the whole time Kagami was asleep he made no motions other than occasionally tapping his polished black shoes against the floor.

After a long stretch of time, Kagami began to awaken, and the man spoke in a soft voice so as not to startle her, "Good morning ma'am, might I ask your name?"

Kagami started awake, still in the dredges of sleep, her mind worked slowly, but eventually recognized another human. She calmed down once seeing he wasn't a monster, and the man even held his hands up flat to show he wasn't trying to hold a weapon at her. Kagami very slowly spoke, saying, "My name is Kagami, who are you?"

The big man gave her his biggest brightest smile, which made Kagami shudder, and said, "My name is Johnson, I'm a representative of Wish House."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Finally we get a little more towards moving on in the plot. Sorry it took so long, but I'm ridiculously busy running my Butcher Shop since I just opened it. Every waking hour goes to supporting it. Even this is taken out of my sleeping time since I need to be at work in 3 hours, but it's worth it. I had forgotten how much writing relaxes me, and I think my current lack of stress from writing this more than makes up for the lost sleep.<p>

Thanks a lot Momo for sending me that message, otherwise this might have been another month in the making. Even so it might still be a while for the next chapter since it doesn't look like my work load is going to ease up anytime soon, but I promise I will try and dedicate more time to writing, and being active on the site.

I'm dying to read what everyone else has been writing in my absence the last few months, and hopefully I can get around to leaving some of you guys reviews.

Thank you all for spending time reading this, just knowing you guys want to see this chapter is all the inspiration I needed for writing it.


	8. Pulling

Chapter 8 – Pulling

The air was still and heavy.

As if to rub in the fact that there was no life without it.

The couch creaked as Kagami slowly raised herself to a sitting position. She had a light headache, probably from the blood being pumped through her body by her pounding heart. She regarded the big black man sitting in the chair across from her. He looked friendly enough, he was smiling, and taking extra precautions to ensure he didn't make any threatening moves to scare Kagami.

The Tsundere didn't buy it. His smile was all she had needed to see. That cold chilling smile, that never touched the man's eyes. At least Katahaba's dumb grin had made her feel warm inside. That grin was genuine and infectious, this one made her blood run cold. The lavender haired girl felt as if she were cornered by a predator that was sizing her up, but wasn't quite sure if it should attack her yet.

Every instinct in her mind told her to get away from this big man, but for once in this place she overruled her instinct with her logical mind. Kagami decided trying to escape would do nothing but draw the man's attention, and at least right now he didn't seem as if he would become a threat to her. Kagami decided she would do anything she could to not make him interested in her.

Her mind finally caught up with her situation, and she finally thought to respond, "Wish House? I've never heard of it. What is it?"

The man raised his eyebrows just a hair. Kagami tried to glean meaning from it, but that could be anything from surprise to just a habit. He responded in his deep gravelly voice, "Wish House is a charity orphanage. I'm one of the heads of the 4S society in charge of the place. We take in abandoned children, and give them a good home. We raise them to be good, faithful children."

An orphanage didn't seem to suit the man at all. He was as big as Katahaba, maybe even a little bigger. He still hadn't made a move to invade Kagami's space or threaten her though. Maybe she could believe him. Maybe he really did run an orphanage, and help children. Still, Kagami felt mistrustful. Even if he was telling the truth, something about the way he told it gave her the chills.

Her panic filled mind worked itself out a little, and she took a few moments to regulate her breathing, and just calm down. Here she was with another person after what seemed forever, and she was asking about an orphanage? She needed to find out how to get out of this place and help Konata. She needed to just act normal, at least normal as this man probably expected to see her, so she asked, "Do you know anything about this place? I've been looking for a way out, but all the roads are destroyed. There's a weird monster following me, I know it sounds crazy, but surely you've seen them too."

The man regarded her silently, and Kagami could almost feel his gaze breaking through all her defenses, and looking straight into her fear filled heart. She jumped a little when he answered, "The real question Ms. Kagami...is _why_ are you here in the first place?"

"_Why am I here? I don't know that, I just woke up here...," _thought Kagami to herself, but to her surprise she found herself saying, "I can't leave her. I have to find her, and find a way out."

The man smiled, as if amused by this, and replied, "So if that's all there is, then why aren't you doing it?"

"I can't." came Kagami's reply.

Once again that amused look that made Kagami feel anger welling up inside her. She kept it down, since she didn't want to anger this man before she had a way of fighting him. The Tsundere didn't even want to think about her chances if she had to go against a man like him without any sort of weapon.

Johnson's brow furrowed for a moment, and then he sighed, and just in that moment, Kagami noticed a change. In that instance he had gone from being completely overbearing in presence to what a normal person should be. For just that instant she had for the first time recognized him as a human, and not another monster of this place.

His demeanor didn't fade as he said, "Ms. Kagami. A part of my job has always been to lead the people who have lost their way. Unfortunately, I'm not capable of walking down the paths beside all those who need guidance. It seems to me that you're lost. Not only in the physical sense of the word, but even deeper than that. There's confusion in your heart over what you should do."

He paused for just a few moments, and waved his arm around gesturing towards the entire room, while continuing, "I'm sure you've noticed this place is off. It was once home to a great paradise that has been corrupted by the sins of man. Even with the corruption though, the light of the goddess remains. She is here with us, to help us all along our paths, but even she can't decide our path for us. If even you don't know what it is you want out of this place, then how can she possibly help you towards it?"

Kagami took a few moments to let his words sink in. It had sounded like babble aloud, but somewhere deep inside her, Kagami couldn't deny what he was saying. She was lost. She had been lost ever since she got separated from Konata. Maybe he was trying to say that this inescapable hell was a reflection of her heart? Kagami couldn't be entirely sure of anything in this place, but that meant in order to find Konata, she would maybe need to be sure that's what she wanted?

It didn't feel quite right. She didn't get the feeling that this place cared much about what she wanted, it just seemed to pick at her anywhere she was sensitive. Maybe it was because she felt like such a failure to her lover. If she had been better, Konata would still be here right beside her, and yet another part of Kagami knew there was nothing she could have done.

The Tsundere massaged her temple, her head hurt from thinking about all the conflicting feelings inside of her. She could sort through all of that later though, for now she had to get away from this man while he still seemed friendly.

He spoke up disturbing her thoughts though, and to her horror that cold tone had come back into his voice. It grated on her how this man could have so much presence he could frighten her to complete silence with just a glance. She listened closely as he said, "That's all the advice I can give you to help you on your way out of here. So now I'm hoping you can help me a little."

Those piercing brown eyes locked onto her, and Kagami once again felt herself being pierced by his all seeing scrutiny. He smirked a little as she flinched under his stare, and Kagami thought he knew full well the effect his gaze had on her. He said, "I need to ask you a few questions. You see, I myself am looking for some people. Very bad and dangerous people who don't want to be found."

Kagami responded, "And you want me to help you find them?"

Johnson replied, "I just want information if you've seen them."

Kagami shuddered as his glare intensified, and for some reason she found herself thinking, "_Not Katahaba, not Katahaba, not Katahaba."_

Johnson seemed slightly annoyed by something, as he said, "Three men in particular."

"James," Kagami felt as if the word had been ripped out of her. She felt violated, and sick to her stomach that this word had been forced out of her mouth.

Now Johnson was interested, and Kagami knew that was bad.

"So you've met James?" he asked coolly.

Kagami nodded weakly, and Johnson said, "James is the leader of the three men I'm looking for. He's incredibly dangerous, and has committed several crimes which can not be forgiven."

Kagami knew she needed to stop this interrogation. She wouldn't be able to take much more of this before she broke, at the very least she needed time to rest before the interrogation continued, so she needed to keep him talking since he seemed to like the sound of his own voice so much.

The Tsundere asked him quickly, "What did he do? I didn't think he was a very good person when I met him, but why would you be after him?"

"Kidnapping, Ms. Kagami." he responded.

Kagami's eyes widened, that had been unexpected.

Johnson saw his opportunity to continue, and said further, "The three men I'm looking for have kidnapped several children from Wish House, and brought them here. They are very sick men who use this place to trick the children. They make it seem as if they're following them into the depths of this place of their own accord, and corrupting them every step of the way. I am simply here to save my children, and bring them back to the light."

It took the Tsundere a minute to process that information. Katahaba a kidnapper? No way, she couldn't believe that, and yet a kidnapper probably would never seem the type to kidnap. Johnson didn't plan on giving her long though, and said, "They get close to people. They seem friendly enough at first, and before you know it they're leading them right into the deepest, darkest parts of this place. They corrupt the children's minds, one playing hero and one playing villain, convincing them that they want nothing more than to protect them while leading them away from the light. If you've met them, the first probably used a line like,"

Kagami felt more words ripped from her mind out of her mouth, and said, "I think you look like someone I knew a really long time ago. "

She shuddered, and almost vomited. Kagami's head was pounding very hard now, and she thought she might faint again if this kept up, but the pressure suddenly released, as Johnson's eyes widened. He regained his composure very quickly, but Kagami knew she had seen him looking shocked for a second there.

Whatever he had just pulled out of Kagami, had definitely not been what he was expecting. Johnson smiled at her again, and said, apparently done discussing their last subject, "You said you were looking for someone? Could you describe her to me? I may have seen her around somewhere."

Kagami hoped desperately that was not the case, but the pressure renewed on her mind, and she found herself fighting desperately to ignore the pressure building, and will it away. Johnson was interested in Konata, and Kagami wanted him to have nothing to do with her. She would not give him anything related to her, nobody like this was going to find out about her angel all alone in this place.

A few tears leaked out as the pain reached new heights, and she actually clasped her head in her hands, now not caring if she looked pathetic in front of the bigger man, as she writhed on the couch, Kagami said, "Blue hair."

She felt empty.

Kagami had betrayed Konata.

She began crying silently as the pressure eased out of her mind. Johnson smiled, and said, "So little Ms. Izumi has come? I had no idea she was here."

Johnson had apparently forgotten about Kagami after learning about Konata, he was muttering to himself before standing up, and heading towards the door, suddenly in a hurry. Kagami trembled as she raised herself up, and shouted , "Wait!"

Johnson stopped, and turned towards her looking aggravated at being stopped. Kagami looked him straight in the eyes, hoping he could feel her hatred of him, just like she could feel his coldness, and she said in her trembling voice, "You stay away from her...don't you go anywhere near her!"

The big man looked amused, as he covered the two steps towards Kagami, and suddenly she couldn't breathe as she felt his hand tighten around her throat. Kagami attempted to wrench his grip free, but his fingers didn't budge as they pressed in on her windpipe. Her lungs started burning quickly, and Johnson raised her up by her throat with one arm, holding her up slightly higher than himself, before saying, "Little girl. You have no idea what you're getting into. I suggest you leave before you do something you can't take back."

He released Kagami, and she fell to the floor, holding her throat, and gasping for air, while Johnson opened the front door, and left, Kagami struggled to shout after him, but no noise came out. There just wasn't anything she could do against someone like Johnson. He was just too strong, if he ever got a hold of Konata, Kagami knew she would never have her lover back.

That was all the motivation the Tsundere needed to get back on her feet. Konata needed her now. With somebody like Johnson after the little Otaku, Kagami knew they wouldn't be safe until they were both out of this place completely. She didn't know why the people here seemed to know Konata, but Kagami wasn't about to stay still, and let them have her.

Kagami walked outside, not bothering to shut the door behind her, she knew she would never come back here again. The Tsundere kept walking out into the middle of the fog swathed street, barely feeling the snow falling around her. Kagami stopped in the middle of the road, and closed her eyes.

She thought hard.

There was something she had had an inkling about for a while now, something that bothered her about what Johnson had said. How could she find her way to something if she wasn't sure what exactly she wanted in the first place. It made sense, even if she found what she was looking for, she wouldn't recognize it unless she knew what it was she had been searching for in the first place.

_I want to find her. I want to find Konata!_

No.

That wasn't quite right. This whole time Kagami had felt as if this place was pulling her along on strings, toying with her, and now she wondered if she might not be able to use those same strings pull back.

_What's the point? What good does it do me to find her? I can't stop Johnson. I probably couldn't even stop Katahaba._

That was closer. Kagami knew she wasn't strong. She wasn't the type of person who believed she had to be strong to survive. All of Kagami's life she had had people who were strong where she was weak. Alone she wasn't much, but together with her precious people they created a strong whole. Maybe if all of them were here, they could do something, but it was just her, with Konata hanging in the balance.

_I want to help her. Even if helping her takes me further away from her, even if I never get to see her again, I want to save her._

That was good, but the Tsundere knew that wasn't the way to go. It was too negative, and this place thrived on negativity, if that was her goal, then this place would undoubtedly eat her alive, and while if she had to sacrifice herself to save Konata, she would, Kagami would much prefer to pursue a path that got them both out of here.

_I hate you Onee-chan._

Kagami shuddered in the cold.

_Darkness, crushing the world out of existence. Filling up every part of her with pain._

"Even if I'm not strong" said Kagami, before pausing for a few seconds.

Kagami let out a sigh, and relaxed. She set herself to a commitment, one she wouldn't break no matter what. Just like she would never let that dark monster from before be her little sister, Kagami wouldn't let this place have her Konata. She wouldn't let Johnson ever lay his hands on Konata even if he was a thousand times stronger than her. She inhaled sharply, and shouted at the sky, "I'm going to save her!"

Kagami's radio blared static all of a sudden as she heard a warbling whistle down the road. It drug on almost like an old radio looking for an active frequency. For just a moment she felt herself being pulled towards the noise. It looked as if this place may have just responded to her pull.

* * *

><p>It was dark here, and yet Konata felt exposed. In the cramped hallway even with the light off, Konata felt as if whatever was making the noises up ahead wouldn't have too much trouble finding them. The blue haired Otaku couldn't help but think any monsters would go after her first too. Sure, Katahaba was the bigger target, but as they walked, she could barely hear his feet rattling the chain link grate floor they were walking on.<p>

Her footsteps seemed to ring out compared to his, and she supposed he had probably been here longer than her, and just learned to move more quietly. Down below them as far as Konata could tell was nothing. She was hit with a small wave of nausea every time she looked down, and saw once again there was nothing underneath the fence like floor they were walking on.

Dotted around were little metal grates that were more solid, but stepping on those caused her footsteps to ring out and echo, and Konata knew enough about this place already to come to the conclusion that that wasn't a good idea. Every few minutes as they advance they would hear that strange clacking noise from further down the hallway.

Unfortunately there seemed to be no way to avoid it. On either side of them were just metal plate walls, and anytime Konata had turned on her flashlight she could see they were covered with rust and dried blood, or maybe so much dried blood it looked like rust caked on for years. She was relieved though, that there seemed to be a sort of natural light here.

Konata couldn't place where it was coming from, but everything was just sort of dim, not quite the pitch black the arena far up above them had been. Either way it was enough to make out Katahaba's shape next to her, and the walls on either side. The Otaku started when she heard chuckle come from Katahaba next to her.

She glared at him for scaring her like that, but he couldn't see it in the dim light, so she just asked, "What was that chuckle about?"

Katahaba chuckled again, and said, "I keep panicking because when I look over I just look right over you, and for a second every time I think you've disappeared."

Konata's eyebrow twitched in agitated, and she responded, "Are we really close enough that you can make quips about my height?"

Somehow even in the dark, Konata could tell the big man was grinning as he responded, "I'd like to think so."

Konata couldn't help but feel the corners of her mouth curving upwards, as she replied, "Why are you always like this? So laid back?"

"Like you're any better." came his response.

There was an awkward silence, but not quite the oppressive silence that pervaded this place. It was awkward because they both realized they had been speaking familiarly of each other. Sure, it made kind of sense because they _were_ familiar to each other, but that was only a feeling, it wasn't like they actually knew each other before this whole mess.

Even so Konata couldn't help the feeling that she knew Katahaba. Maybe not personally, like she had thought when she first met him, but it was more like his presence felt familiar. Almost as if he had been a part of her life before, and had just been mysteriously pulled out of all of her memories. That couldn't possibly be though, even in a place like this she at least still had her memories and feelings to herself. Her feelings for Kagami were the whole reason she had even bothered to get out the bed when she had woken up back in that little room with the TV.

She needed to find Kagami, and get out, and the Otaku had no intentions besides that. Her morbid curiosity about the place had been forgotten, the only thing that mattered was finding Kagami, and yet here Katahaba was making her feel almost relaxed. He was big and ugly, and scary looking, but she just couldn't help but feel he was a good person deep down.

Konata's thoughts were interrupted by a particularly large spike in the quiet clacking noise up ahead of them. Both of them stopped as soon as they heard it, wondering could be up ahead of them. Konata jumped as she felt a big hand clap the back of her shoulder. Katahaba said, "Don't worry. Whatever is up ahead, we'll get past it no problem. Then whatever is after that, and whatever is after that. I'm _going_ to find my big bro, and there ain't anything this place can throw at me to stop that."

The words gave Konata courage. They were spoken with absolute finality, and she hardly believed that it could go any other way than how he said. Even so that recognition didn't help Konata find Kagami. It was all fine and well that Katahaba was strong and determined, but they had different goals, and the Otaku realized that at some point, if she wanted to find Kagami, she would no longer be able to follow Katahaba.

Konata didn't want to be alone again. She had been alone far too many times, and she _hated_ it, but if that's what had to happen for her to find Kagami then that's exactly what she would do. For now though, her and Katahaba were heading the same way, so at least she had his help for a while, and she was grateful. Konata didn't think help was something that was given very often in this place.

Katahaba took the lead for a good ten feet in case something attacked, it would have to first make it through the bigger of them to get at her, and Konata couldn't shake the feeling that Katahaba wasn't scared at all. Or if he was, at least he didn't show it. Deep down she reasoned he probably was scared, but everyone's different. He was probably scared of entirely different things than she was.

Another three minutes of slow advance down the hallway, and the clacking noise was louder than before. When Konata realized that it was coming from multiple directions she shuddered. Whatever they had been hearing, there was more than one. They would need to be careful. Konata knew if they got surrounded, they probably wouldn't make it out no matter how strong Katahaba was.

Another minute, and the hallway widened into a large chamber. The fencing as the floor ended into smooth white porcelain tile. That explained at least why the clacking had suddenly gotten louder a ways back. Whatever was here had moved from the fencing to the tile, and its sound had echoed more. Walking about five feet into the dim room, Katahaba stopped. Konata stopped right at the entrance to the room, a few feet behind Katahaba.

The Otaku couldn't figure out why he had stopped, until she listened hard. Something was wrong. All the clacking up until now, and everything was suddenly silent. She shuddered as she imagined thousands of eyes looking in on her from the darkness on all sides. Her mind was racing to put the little details together. Something she had noticed, and missed, and Katahaba was only a second ahead of her.

He yelled, "Konata, run!"

They had heard clacking like animal claws all through the hallway. They had heard their own steps rattling on the fence as they had slowly made their way through the darkness. Why was it only now Konata didn't realize that animal claws don't make a clacking noise on chain link fence? The otaku looked to her right, and saw it staring.

Her first thought was how it reminded her of a dog, except that dogs don't stand on walls. It was so close she could actually see its pink skin, wet with some fluid, maybe blood. Then she realized it was missing skin, she was looking right at its musculature through a thin clear membrane. The veins in its muzzle grew suddenly as blood pumped through them, and it opened its mouth very widely. It's snout was about three feet long, and it opened from the center, spreading out slowly in a circle revealing five rows of teeth, each row sharp, and curved in the opposite direction of the one before it.

The thing growled like a dog, only about five times louder than any dog she had ever heard, and she felt a large gust of wind come from its snout as the teeth began rotating in its mouth at an impossibly fast speed. Its muscles bulged outwards as it lowered itself against the wall, and Konata just barely managed to throw herself to the floor as it lunged through the air right at where her face had been.

It carried on its lunge, and settled its paws down on the wall right on the other side of the entranceway it had lunged from, and continued running right along the tiled walls as easily as a normal dog would run along the floor. Then it turned, and began running up towards the ceiling, and suddenly the clacking of many claws could be heard all around her.

Konata hauled herself up, knowing if that thing's lunge had connected it would have ground her face up in its teeth. She began running towards Katahaba, who was waiting on her, and she passed him up as he began running right behind her keeping an eye out on their flanks. Konata felt her hair lift up, and trail behind her as she ran, and focused straight ahead, hoping there wouldn't be a wall up ahead.

Rather than a wall, she heard another very loud grown directly in front of her, and she leaned back, and slid on the smooth tile as the dog monster lunged right through where her throat had been a moment ago. She screamed as she slid under it, seeing its muscle ripple as it lunged through the air towards Katahaba who was directly behind her.

Konata tilted her hair back from her place on the floor as the dog passed over her, and watched in horror as its lunge carried it into the big man behind her, but right as it was about to tear into him, he dodged just slightly to his right, and raised his arm up over it. It sailed into the gap between his ribs and arm, and Katahaba caught it tucked tightly into his elbow. He never paused as he spun, and tossed it off to the side being rewarded with a whine as it impacted into the floor off in the darkness.

As he ran by he scooped Konata up by the back of her shirt with one hand, and roughly shoved her out in front of him again, shouting, "GO!"

She found her stride, and quickly began sprinting off again her lungs burning with the sudden exertion, and her mind only slightly wondering if the big man behind her would be able to keep up. That thought was proven to be moot as she slammed hard up against a tiled wall directly in front of her. Katahaba just barely managed to not crush her as he spun to the side of her, and slammed into the wall himself.

"Damn!" Konata swore loudly.

Katahaba turned back towards where the clacking noises were coming from, and stepped in front of her quickly, saying, "Give me some light."

Konata didn't question him, and switched on her flashlight, while pulling her knife out from her side, and getting ready to fight. The noises were quickly closing in on their location, and Katahaba said, "It looks like they growl really loudly to make enough airflow to rotate their teeth, those teeth are really the only dangerous thing about them. The claws are big, but not deadly, just get out of the way when they growl."

Kona was impressed. For someone who claimed not to be smart, he had analyzed the monster very quickly, although she supposed to survive in this place you needed to pick up a knack for that. Soon the light revealed the dogs chasing them. Konata quickly saw there were four of them altogether. They were spaced off evenly, and running side by side as they came.

Katahaba stood ready, but Konata couldn't figure out why he hadn't pulled his pipe from the sheathe on his back, surely he realized that would do better than his fists. She heard two of the dogs growl, and watched them lunge straight on towards Katahaba. He fell back with them, placing his foot on the belly of one of them, and launching it up into the wall over Konata as the second one sailed straight over him.

Konata saw almost in slow motion the flailing dog coming through air towards her, and rolled out of the way as it impacted with a little crunch where she had been before, dropping the flashlight facing away from the wall in the process. There was no time to reflect though because the second two dogs who had passed right by Katahaba were running in a straight line towards the wall, one in line with Konata.

I growled loudly, and she could hear the grinding teeth inside its mouth as it opened wide. Konata didn't have enough room up against the wall to evade like Katahaba had, so she quickly hopped to the side intending it crash into the wall at full speed, bu it got its claws into the wall, and began running upwards.

Konata quickly swiped the back of its leg with her knife, being rewarded with a yelp when she slashed it. The dog lost its grip on the wall, and tumbled down in front of her. Konata quickly began stabbing at it furiously, trying to stab its head as it thrashed and yelped. On her third attempt she buried the knife up to the hilt in its head, and it went limp.

Konata tugged on her knife, but it wouldn't come free from the animal's skull. Then she felt a wave of panic as she heard the noise of claws coming down from above her. From her sitting position on the floor trying to pull the knife out she could see another beast running down the wall from the ceiling straight at her. Konata felt her grip on the knife loosen as she tried to get out of the way, but knew she wasn't going to be fast enough when Katahaba grabbed her again, and jumped up towards the wall, passing just barely over the monster while it lunged down, and continued running away along the floor.

The big man's back smacked into the wall, and he crumbled down on top of Konata. She could feel his weight on top of her, and cried out in pain as his knee dug into her back while he tried to lift himself up in order to counter the attack of another oncoming dog. It was charing straight at him growling, and there was no chance of dodging this time.

The big man must have weighed at least two hundred pounds, and all his crushing weight was focused on Konata's back as he braced himself. The dog lunged, Konata heard its growl rising to an ear rattling level, actually hearing the whirring of its teeth as its circular opening on the end of its snout slid open from the center outwards ready to tear into Katahaba, and probably her a moment later. It lunged straight at the big man, who put his hands out in defense. Konata could almost see it grinding down his whole arm in a second, but was surprised when Katahaba's muscles bulged, and her back was given a fresh jolt as the creature slammed into him, and stopped.

Katahaba had reached past the snout, and caught the full force of the creature's attack on its shoulders, stopping it, and grappling it on the ground. It pushed hard against him, and Konata could see veins pop out on Katahaba's arms as he tried to stop it from overwhelming them. He was pushing it back very slowly when Konata heard the noises of the last dog coming from the opposite side of them.

Katahaba heard it too, and redoubled his effort to push the dog away as the second closed in on his right hand side. Konata screamed as she felt his knee dig in deep, and take on his whole weight as he lost balance, and the dog carried over to the side.

They were dead, Konata knew it. The first dog had knocked Katahaba over, and the second was closing in for the kill while the first was still locked in grappled on top of the big man. Konata wanted to help, and struggled to get her feet back under her despite the pain in her back, but only managed to get to her knee before she heard the final dog growl, and lunge at Katahaba.

She heard him growl as loudly as the dogs as his fingers dug into the first god's skin, tearing the membrane there, and causing it to bleed. Katahaba dug his fingers in, and lifted the beast by its shoulder, pulling it over him, as the last dog crashed into the first while Katahaba used its body as a shield.

The sound was awful as skin and bone popped inside the creature's deadly mouth, and the whole time the first dog was squealing in pain, but that came to a sudden stop, as the final dogs snout emerged out of the side of the first's and the meat shield fell in half, having been ground through the middle. Konata regained her feet while the first dog was being chewed in half, and as Katahaba was staring down the last dog, she blindsided it, jumping up, and kicking with both legs as hard she could into its ribs.

The Otaku landed flat on her back, but she had heard, and felt the crunch when she had hit the monster. It help helplessly, and crumbled to the side. She breathed heavily as she watched it from her laying position struggling against the pain, and trying to stand, but flopping back down every time it almost regained its feet.

Two dogs were dead, one was in front of her trying vainly to stand back up, the other was shuddering in a heap right where Katahaba had first launched it into the wall with all the strength his legs could muster. The Otaku slowly regained her feet, listening for any more clacking, and only hearing the whining of the two dogs in front of them. She angrily spat on the one she had drop kicked, causing Katahaba to say, "Hey, there's no need for that. How would you feel if someone spat on you when you were miserable?"

Konata was shocked, and a little disgusted he would come to its defense, she retorted, "It's just a monster, and it's trying to kill us even now."

The big man shook his head, and said, "Maybe, but it's only got one life just like us, there's no need in just making it miserable."

He was breathing heavily from the exertion, but Konata could see his eyes in the light of her flashlight, she thought she could see pity for the monsters there. If she had seen it though, it was gone in a second, and he grunted as he stomped the struggling dog's head into the ground, crunching its skull under his boot.

He walked right over to the second one still crumpled against the wall, and did the same thing. When he was finished, he turned to Konata, and said, "Just because something hurts you, doesn't give you the right to hurt it. We had to this time, but sometimes it's better to just take the hurt."

Konata couldn't believe she was getting a lecture from Katahaba, especially a serious sounding lecture. Still her interest was piqued, and Konata asked him while still trying to catch her breath back, and only just now noticing the light sheen of sweat on her skin, "Why would it be better to just let those things kills us, then? What would that accomplish, I get not wanting to kill for no reason, I don't just go around killing things normally either, but this situation calls for it completely."

he shrugged, and said, "Yeah, you're right, but we won't always be fighting monsters. It won't always be a choice about whether to kill a monster or die, maybe one day you'll be choosing another human life or your own. Depending on who it is, it might be better to just not fight. Maybe you'll only end up hurting more from fighting."

Konata couldn't understand why he would be talking about these things, they should be seeking shelter, they should be looking for Kagami, they should be finding a way out, not having a conversation on why killing is wrong. She asked, "Why are you telling me this Katahaba?"

He responded, "It's this place. I want to protect you, but this place is going to try and drive us apart, I just want you to know that when we get separated you could end up facing anything. There are much worse things down here than that lizard you killed in the theatre. It only gets worse the deeper you go. I just want to make sure you know how hard it's going to be to get out of here."

Those words were dark, they were heavy. Konata knew this place was rough, she knew it was basically nightmares come to life, but the way Katahaba was speaking made it sound like it got a whole lot worse, and now she was worrying about Kagami again. Kagami didn't have martial arts training like she did, Kagami couldn't fight back against monsters. She didn't even know if Kagami would be able to move without Konata there for support.

Konata got to her feet, and looked around, seeing the big room they were in, there were four doors leading in different directions. All were located up some stairs not too far from where they had entered, and on a second floor walkway surrounding the room. Konata walked over, and retrieved her knife from the skull of the dog she had killed, and then her flashlight, then she took a couple steps away from Katahaba, she felt like she was being pulled towards the doors upstairs.

Her stomach filled with ice when Katahaba said from behind her, "Are you leaving me?"

She hadn't realized it, but she had just chosen going after Kagami after staying with Katahaba. She turned and faced him, and saw he was grinning. She felt a smile coming back to her face seeing that grin. She didn't know how he was able to cheer her up despite the fact she almost just died. She said to him, "I have to Katahaba. You're heading deeper and deeper into this place, right?"

He nodded.

She continued, "I just want to find Kagami and leave, I just want to get her out of here before something awful happens."

He chuckled, and said, "I understand. I'm going to find James whether or not that drags you deeper into here or not. You should have the same right to go after your girlfriend, whether or not it gets in my way too."

"Katahaba..." she said it quietly.

He responded, "I made a promise to someone I would protect you as much as I could, if this is as much as I can do, then that's fine. I'm not going to keep saving you if it gets in your way by keeping you with me."

Konata was mildly curious as to who in this place would ask him to protect her, but she decided not to ask. Something like that would only pull her deeper into this place, and she was done sinking into the darkness. Konata wanted to go back to the light, and she was going to bring Kagami back no matter what it took.

Both Konata and Katahaba began walking back towards the stairs to the second floor in silence. They climbed the smooth white tiled steps, listening to their footsteps ring out. Konata stopped at the first door, but Katahaba kept walking, and with each step Konata's stomach knotted up tighter. She watched Katahaba move on to the third door, and said almost hoping he would stop her, "Are you sure this is right?"

The big man shook his head,and said, "I hardly know anything about anything Konata, I just do what I think I should, and I need to go after my brother, he needs me. If we need to split up to find the people we need to find, then I say splitting up is the best course we can take."

Konata nodded, she knew he was right, even if it seemed stupid to leave each other in this place, he was going away from Kagami, and she was more important than anything, even more important than Katahaba. She felt like she would vomit as she reached for the door handle. He spoke up, and said, "Go ahead Konata. You've picked her before, just do it again."

Konata's eyes widened as her head pounded intensely. She dropped to her knees, and looked questioningly at Katahaba, who only shrugged in her general direction. The pain faded out after a few moments, and Katahaba said across to her, "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me, if we're leaving each other, I want to do it on better terms, alright?"

Konata shook her head, and said, "No, it's alright Katahaba, you and Kagami. You two are the only ones who have a right to be mad at me for what I did back then. So it's fine if you hate me."

Katahaba laughed this time, he laughed loudly, and it didn't sound fake, after a few seconds of laughter he said, "I don't hate you Konata. I don't even remember what I'm supposed to be mad at you for, so how about this? Since I can't remember it, it obviously wasn't very important. So I forgive you for whatever it was, and even if we remember, it's already forgiven, so there's nothing that can be done about it. I promise I won't hate you though."

The Otaku smiled back at him, he really was dumb about some things. Katahaba gave her a wave, and said, "Konata, I really mean it, I know you'll find what you're looking for."

Konata nodded, and said, "Take care of yourself Katahaba, I know you'll find your brother."

He grinned, and said, "Dang right."

He laughed at her, and opened his door, and the last she heard of him before the door shut was him yelling, at the top of his lungs in a jovial manner, "I'm going to save him!"

His door shut behind him, and Konata watched it slowly bubble, and sink into the wall. This place had her now, it wasn't going to let them see each other again without a fight, but Konata intended to fight it every inch of the way. After all it was just like Katahaba had said.

The Otaku opened her door, and moved through it into what seemed to be a regular elevator. She closed the door behind her, and looked at the panel for the floors. Currently the button was lit up on B4. She could go all the way down to B8 or all the way up to B1.

The elevator started rising up as she pressed the B1 button, and she remembered one Katahaba had told her one more time. It didn't matter what this place threw at her, she _would_ overcome it. Then whatever was after that, and whatever was after that, because this place didn't have anything strong enough to stop her from finding Kagami.

There was a loud ding as the elevator stopped on the B1 floor, and Konata stepped out, turning on her flashlight, while saying, "I'm going to save her!"

* * *

><p>Author's note: Well this took a while to write because of hurricane, and being partially typed out on my phone, and unfortunately since it's past 3 Am and I have to be at work in less than 3 hours I don't have time to edit this. So this is a raw version I'll edit as soon as I get a chance, but I wanted to get it up for you guys to read so nobody would think I died in the storm down here.<p>

I'm almost to where I can start moving the plot forward regularly, I just a have a couple more events that need to take place before this story can move into it's more plot related stuff. Everything will be explained in time, and I've thought of quite a few things to put in, just hopefully I don't have a ton of plot holes running around.


	9. The Giving

Chapter 9 – The Giving

In the back of his mind, Katahaba noticed the door dissolving behind him as he strode into the darkness in front of him. Honestly, the big guy wasn't surprised by it. It was more surprising the place had let him meet up with Konata twice now in such a short amount of time. As he listened closely for any kind of noise in the almost pitch darkness stretching before him, Katahaba pondered on the feeling that he'd see her again soon.

He believed it, the blue haired Otaku was tough, that was evident, but she wasn't the right kind of tough yet. She wasn't tough like he was. Katahaba knew for a fact he wasn't the strongest, Creed had taught him plenty of times that he was actually very weak compared to a lot of things in this place, not to mention Creed himself.

Katahaba knew he wasn't the smartest, and he had actually been told plenty of times he wasn't even particularly smart besides having pretty keen observation skills. James had shown him a million billion times that he was easily smarter than Katahaba. The big man even knew he wasn't nearly the best fighter around either, he was good, no doubt, and he'd mopped the floor with most things he had ever fought with, but Katahaba had had his butt handed to himself by James and Creed enough times to know his skill shouldn't ever go to his head.

One thing Katahaba did believe though, was that he was tough.

Not tough in a normal way either. Sure he could take a hit better than anyone he knew, even Johnson couldn't take the amount of damage Katahaba could and keep going, not by a long shot, but it wasn't just his body. Katahaba had noticed early on the effect this place had on people. Especially when they were alone.

When he first came here there had been tons of monsters thrown at him, painful memories drug up one after another, but it hadn't really bothered him. After all, even if this place could bring up painful memories, and insecurities, he had already gotten past all those, or learned to live with them, it wasn't something that would break him, and soon enough they had stopped.

Maybe not completely. This place would never stop doing what it was meant to do, but it also adapted. It would wait for him to be vulnerable before it tried to break him, and he had proven again and again that he was tougher, that no matter what it had to throw at him, he could make it through. It had actually been quite a long time since the darkness had bothered him, but in the last few hours it had started again.

It was just like when he had first come here. Monsters stalking in all the corners, unexplained feelings and urges surfacing, not the least of which was the urge to run away from Konata, but he wasn't about to abandon someone who still needed his help. Even if he was a little scared of her, Konata was a good person. Katahaba could see it, and when anybody came here, they usually needed help.

That's why he had split up from her. She wasn't ready for his help yet, she wasn't tough enough to make it out with Kagami. The Otaku would need this place to make her stronger without his hand holding before she could hope to get out. If this place destroyed her in the time before they met again, then even if it was regrettable, she wouldn't have been tough enough to make it out anyways. Better to die here, than be broken in the deeper, darker places.

Katahaba had helped a good many people find their way out in his time here despite the constant warnings he had received from James about getting too close to people. He intended to help Konata, and then he intended to find James. Katahaba knew his Big bro was good enough to hold on until Katahaba could save him.

Besides that if James had particularly needed Katahaba's help the big man would have already been there to help him. Katahaba believed that with all his heart. They had always looked out for each other, well, mostly they had looked out for him, but if they ever needed him, Katahaba would be there, simple as that.

His footsteps echoed in the darkness, and he reached his hand out to feel the wall. It was covered in dust, and rough. Sort of felt like cement, cold and solid against his hand. He stopped, and stomped one of his feet, listening to it echo, and judged the length of the hallway. Pretty big, he seemed to have a talent for finding big hallways as of late.

Continuing his trek, Katahaba noticed the hallway brighten suddenly behind him, and he turned swiftly, throwing a punch at the sudden source of illumination since he hadn't sensed anything in the hallway with him. He drew up short as he saw a smiling face awaiting him surrounded by light. The figure's blue hair cascaded down her back, reaching almost to the ground.

The woman glowed in the darkness, here where it was deeper than their previous meeting she shined even more. Katahaba had a hard time looking directly at her after being used to the darkness for so long. He raised one of his gloved hands up, and shielded his eyes from the worst of it until they slowly adjusted.

The big man grinned at the small woman, and said, "Hey, back already?"

She nodded at him, and responded, "It seems I have more energy to get around here lately."

He responded, "Well that's nice, I could use the company anyways."

The woman nodded once again, and joined him, walking beside him as he proceeded down the hallway, stopping to check a door that wouldn't open after a few feet. She broke their momentary silence, saying, "So, you two already split up?"

Katahaba chuckled, he had expected her to be a little annoyed at that. He said, "Yep, couldn't help it."

She sighed in an annoyed manner, and said, "You only made it one room."

He actually laughed when he heard it out loud. Katahaba hadn't thought about it that way. Just making it one room under his protection sounded pretty pathetic. He grinned, and said, "Well in my defense, it was a really big room."

She smiled at that, the woman wasn't particularly angry with Katahaba. After all, what good would it do? He had never responded to anger from anyone else, she doubted hers would have any effect. After a moment of silence she said, "It isn't like you to just let someone go like that, what's the matter?"

"I was just getting in her way. Protection isn't what she needs right now. She's a lot tougher than she looks anyways," Katahaba said plainly.

The glowing woman dropped the subject, she knew he had a good eye for what needed to be done, even when he didn't understand it himself, and she trusted his judgment. There was another issue she had to address though, and she asked him, "Are you sure you want to keep going deeper Jacob?"

He nodded, and said, "If that's where James went, then that's where I'm heading."

She was quiet for a few seconds before reaching out and grabbing his hand. It was warm, and comforting to him, and they walked together like that for a few minutes before she said, "It's going to be dangerous."

Katahaba nodded, and she asked him, "Aren't you scared?"

The big man's hand trembled for a second as he replied, "Yeah, but I can deal with it. Besides, if I really get into too much trouble, either James or Creed will come help me, so don't worry."

She frowned up at him. Even though there was no way she could stop him, the woman wished he would just leave this whole place behind, and move on, but she had known Katahaba long enough to know he never would. Even if she hated to watch him head into even more dangerous areas, the woman knew that in this place everyone was meant to make their own way.

* * *

><p>Kagami shuddered.<p>

After all it was freezing out here, and snow drifted lazily sort of blending with the fog, and making it even harder to see, but she could still hear the whistling just fine. That cold drawling pitch made her shudder. As its pitches reached the upper registers, her radio emitted louder static. Kagami knew she would have to be careful.

The Tsundere knew she couldn't fight, she had never fought anybody in her life, much less a monster. Even if she _could_ fight it, Kagami wasn't sure of herself. The lavender haired girl didn't really know if she could bring herself to actually hurt something. It was one thing to do it by reflex like the dark monster in the shop from earlier, but she didn't know if she could purposely bring harm to another living thing.

Kagami kept telling herself that it was monster, that it wasn't human, but all of her life she had believed that to inflict suffering on another living thing was wrong, and she felt her hands tremble as she thought of the idea of actually having to hurt or kill something. Her stomach lurched, and she felt as if she might vomit.

Kagami steeled her nerves, and decided she could do it. If she had to hurt something she could, but the Tsundere knew full well she wasn't going to hurt anything unless it was her last option. Even if Kagami knew the creature was somehow linked to her way out of here, and by extension her way to Konata, she didn't have any intention of starting a fight.

"So what now?" Kagami thought to herself.

Here she was standing off to the side of the street keeping a good distance from the Taker that was after her, but she didn't really have any sort of idea how to proceed. Surely she couldn't cower here and freeze to death, the Tsundere needed to take some form of action, but all paths seemed to lead to a quick death at the hands of the monster tailing her.

Another loud whistle, and Kagami's radio began acting up as the whistle kept on through its higher pitches. The lavender haired girl sighed, and patted the radio on her belt loop. At least it allowed her to track the monster, she was grateful for the advantage she had there. After all, the Taker didn't know what it was looking for, but Kagami knew for a fact she was looking for a way to save Konata from this place.

The Tsundere couldn't imagine what awful things this place would do to her Otaku. If it fed on Konata the way it had been doing to her, Kagami imagined Konata would be in a much darker, more dangerous place than herself. She knew Konata had had it rough, and if this place was some freaky show pulling its script from the dark parts of their minds, then it would have ample material to work with from the smaller girl.

The Tsundere gritted her teeth, and felt a vein protruding from her forehead. This place really pissed her off. It was one thing to mess around with her, and her own feelings, but when something tried to mess with her family Kagami couldn't stand it. She was happy she wasn't like Matsuri in that regard, her older sister would be in a blind rage about now, and there's no telling what could happen to her in this place if that happened.

Another whistle blared suddenly, startling Kagami. It had gotten much closer while she was lost in thought, and her radio blared as her vision blurred. The Tsundere stumbled backwards away from the noise out of instinct, and began jogging away from the noise at a brisk pace considering how she could possibly turn this situation to her advantage. If she got close to the Taker then she would probably die. Judging by the diary she had found earlier from the dead man in the electronics store, she could assume it wanted her head or something like that, and Kagami wasn't particularly interested in losing anything in the area of her head even if it just wanted her ear that would be too much.

The Tsundere risked a glance back, and for the first time she saw its outline in the fog. The thing stood easily nine feet tall. The freaky thing about it though was how skinny it was. Long legs and arms with angular joints like a bugs legs. Its legs and arms were about four feet long each, and wiry thin. Yet as she saw it move, it almost seemed to glide smoothly along the ground, and made no noise she could discern, but Kagami turned her head away, and started running. She had no interest in getting a better look, she wanted to find some little area she was safe in to make a plan.

Up ahead of her she saw an alleyway off to the left, and banked for it, planning to pass through to the next street, and lose this thing for a few minutes at least. She ran into the alleyway, and came up short when she saw another of the creatures shadows about halfway down the distance to the next road. A surge of panic filled her as she jumped back from the mouth of the alley as another loud whistle erupted behind her, setting her radio blaring again.

Kagami looked behind her to see the monster strutting in her direction a little faster than she had been jogging before. Either it had spotted her at some point, and was giving chase, or it somehow recognized she was on the move, and was trying to catch up. She was stuck, caught between the two with not enough time to head further down the road and look for another escape route. The monster would catch her in just a few seconds with the speed it was moving at.

Kagami gritted her teeth, on the verge of panic as sickness welled up in her stomach as another whistle sounded out from the monster chasing her. Through her blurry vision, and nausea Kagami stumbled forwards into the alleyway. She remembered the diary entry as she tensed her legs up. Then she sprinted down the alleyway as fast as she could.

Kagami could feel her stomach lurching. She was overly aware of the expansion in her body was going through as she took off at full speed towards the monster in front of her. She only had a second to think, "I hope he was right about each person only having one after them."

She felt her twin tails bounce off her shoulders with each powerful step. The monsters shadow ahead of her was constantly growing closer, and her eyes widened as it finally came into clear view. It was humanoid with a shiny shell all over it reminding her of a beetle. Its head was average size for a human, but the large mandible jaws killed any possibility of it resembling a normal head.

Another step closer.

Kagami could make out the color of its carapace to be a dark green, almost black with bright yellow markings running in different directions along its chest and legs, but not on the arms. Kagami felt the urge to shudder, but couldn't while her adrenaline was firing off carrying right up to the creature which was looking dead at her.

It raised its long spindly arm, almost like it was pointing at Kagami, and sounded a loud whistle as she stepped right up beside it. Despite it looking like a freaky spindly spider like demon from hell, what Kagami would never forget would be its eyes. As she stepped right past it she was never hindered by the creature, but her eyes met it's own. Kagami screamed, and powered past the thing running even harder until she broke out of the other side of the alleyway, and kept on sprinting down this new road until she turned the corner at the end of the block.

She stopped, and doubled over, holding her knees while she desperately tried to get some air back into her lungs after the sudden exertion. Kagami breathed hard, and couldn't get those awful eyes out of her mind. She had seen it, even if only for a blurred second in her primal panic to get away, she had seen them.

Those eyes had looked at her. Even if they were easily twice as big as her own, those eyes had been human. They had almost seemed to bulge from their sockets like they could have fallen out at any second. Those big lidless eyes. Those bloodshot, suffering eyes. The eyes of a creature subjected to never ending torment. She had seen the fear and the pain in them.

Kagami sank to her knees and shuddered once more in the cold. The snow bit at the exposed skin on her arms, and she could feel her jeans dampening. Dully she registered the whistle from the area where she had left the alleyway. The creature was already tracking her in this direction. For just a moment, nothing seemed real.

Kagami looked around at the buildings she had passed before, she actually recognized this area of town. The once bustling sidewalks empty of all life. Once there were thousands of people who trudged along this strip of land, and now there was fog and snow. The joyful chatter of pedestrians no longer in this place, and yet in that moment, Kagami could hear them all again.

She could hear the horns honking in the streets, the people calling to each other, and she remembered that her heart was set. The challenge had been placed in front of her, and she could run or face it. In this moment she believed she could go back if she wished it. If she set her heart to it, Kagami truly believed she could go back.

Her heart was somewhere else though, somewhere being steadily pulled away, and running was only taking her desire further away. It clicked in Kagami's head what Johnson had meant. He meant her will. The place wasn't necessarily a reflection of her heart, this place was responding to her. It hadn't attacked her, it hadn't forced darkness on her. The only thing this place had done was respond to what she had decided she deserved.

This place had punished her as her little sister. Kagami always felt she wasn't good enough to be Tsukasa's older sister, if anything she had felt Tsukasa was the one who always took care of her, with all her love and positivity. Kagami knew she wouldn't be who she was today without that support from her little sister.

Finally the Tsundere understood her little chat with Johnson. She stood up slowly, even if she understood more about this place now, that didn't mean she wasn't about to die. There were still plenty of insecurities in her heart and mind, things this place would use against her, but now she knew that she could make a path to follow. That's probably what Johnson had meant by the Godess' influence.

An ear-splitting whistle sounded from right behind Kagami, and her vision clouded, nearly fading to black as she felt the presence of the monster behind her, finally catching up. Kagami began shaking again, she didn't know what it wanted from her, she didn't know if she could survive being this close to it, but she knew if she didn't face it now, she would never see Konata again, and so she waited.

The creature eyed her, towering over her, and now that she was this close Kagami could see little muscles through its carapace being pulled along by spines. Almost as if the creature's shell was pulling it along despite its body's protest. Kagami looked up into its eyes watching the shake around constantly in their sockets, probably unable to focus on anything. Then she felt her tears.

_The man had been looking for his daughter. The fog coated everything, and the howling wind combined with the fierce snow had chilled him to the bone, but still he never left the streets. He looked back over his shoulder to see if the shadow was still following, and heard another shrill whistle letting him know the creature was still on his tail._

_He had been running from it for days, and all he ever thought about was escaping it, but no matter where he ran it was always right behind him. It never slept, it never tired, and it never ate as far as he knew, but none of that was important next to his daughter. He pressed on, refusing to give in to the biting cold._

_He lost feeling in his hands first, they stopped moving, and soon he couldn't walk anymore. The creature closed in on him finally, still masked by the swirling snows as he cursed his weakness. His daughter was still out there. He had to find her, he would take her out of this dangerous place, and not let anything get in his way._

_He hated it, he hated the monster, he hated this place, and as he died he kept thinking about how he would find her, how he would take her away from this horrible place, and bring her somewhere nothing could ever hurt her again. As he faded he though he saw her shadow running off into the snow, her brand new red ribbon he had bought her just a few days before fluttering behind her._

Kagami grabbed the monster's hand. It was slimy, and she could feel revulsion welling up inside her at the sick feeling she got from it. Then she said, "It's okay. You don't have to look anymore."

Her radio was crackling with static constantly now even though it wasn't whistling it seemed to always emit some sort of signal it responded to at close range. It raised its opposite arm up to her face, and Kagami could see a little pinprick sized hole at the end. It glowed for just a moment as she looked into it, and then suddenly there was a hand there. A small green spiny hand with three fingers reaching up into her hair.

Kagami grabbed it, feeling her hands begin to bleed as soon as she touched the razor sharp spines on the top of its hand, and to her surprise it stopped. She then let go of its hand, and reached up into her hair, Kagami quickly pulled her ribbons Konata had gotten for her loose, and placed them in its little hand. Her hair fell back as she untied it. She hated that she was giving these up, but it was a small price to pay to find Konata.

It took them, and then sounded off another loud whistle she couldn't feel anything from, and turned away from her. The creature began walking off in the opposite direction, and for just a few moments Kagami was too stunned by the fact that she was still alive to do anything, but stare after it. Then she took off after it.

It stride was easy, looking as if its walk on its skinny limbs was the easiest thing in the world, and yet even though it appeared to be moving casually, Kagami had to jog to keep up with it as it loped off with her ribbons. Kagami constantly had to bat her hair out of her eyes as she jogged behind it, following it to wherever it brought the things it had taken, and it wasn't long before she started to see more and more of the Takers in the streets.

They stood still as she approached, but as she passed she noticed each of them would raise their left arms, pointing at her, and watching as she passed. Sounding whistles off the second she passed them by. Another couple minutes of following the one with her ribbons, and she reached the entrance to an alleyway. This particular alleyway was different than the other around, not only because of the sheer number of takers standing around here, but she could see it inside.

Once she stepped into the alleyway, she could feel the darkness again. It was all around this place. Just like in the movie theater from before Kagami could feel it pressing in on her mind, but now she fought back. Never again would she let it paralyze her, and destroy her. For Konata, Kagami would never let this darkness have her mind again. Even if her mind was shielded now from the darkness it did nothing to stop the disturbing scene from unfolding in front of her.

All around her the Takers were waiting. All of them pointing, and surrounded by heaps and heaps of things they had taken over the years. Kagami saw video games, jewelery, even a steering wheel, but it wasn't just old stuff lying around. There were body parts strewn all across the alleyway. Tongues, fingers, hearts, and eyes littered the ground all over, and blood had long since stained the entire ground black.

That coupled with the buildings making up the walls of the alleyway seeming to have been replaced by nothing but darkness made Kagami feel like she was walking through space. She couldn't actually see any form of floor or wall as she went deeper into the alleyway, and only knew she was actually still walking on cement by the feel under her shoes, and always the Takers. Watching, and pointing, and whistling as the one she was following went deeper and deeper into what Kagami now though of as a cave rather than an alleyway.

There seemed to be dim illumination coming from somewhere, so she didn't yet turn on Konata's phone in flashlight mode yet. It felt like Kagami had been moving through this place for a really long time when the creature she had been following suddenly stopped. Kagami didn't wait on it though, she kept moving. It was a taker, even if she had stopped it once it would keep taking and taking and taking anything from her that reminded it of what it had really been looking for.

Kagami pitied it, she knew it would wander around here forever, searching for her still as she ran past it deeper and deeper into the dark. She kept running even as she finally heard it release another high pitched whistle, and felt it pulling her. The other Takers just watched her, pointing and whistling as she ran by them. None of them ever made a move to stop her.

After what felt like hours of running, Kagami noticed a wall up ahead of her. A single dim light bulb shined above it, but in that moment, it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. She flung the door open, and dashed inside, slamming it behind her, somehow knowing the Taker wouldn't follow her.

The room was pitch black inside, so Kagami finally turned on her small light again. As it illuminated around her, she screamed, and dove away from a glint off of a metal blade only a foot away from her. She scrambled away from it, and into the corner before looking back to see that she wasn't being chased by a monster with some kind of blade attached to it.

Her stomach felt cold as she noticed the cold eyes she was being regarded with. This person, however, was someone she had met before. Short brown hair, black metal glasses, taller than her by a little bit, but not nearly as muscular as Johnson and Katahaba. He flashed her a chilly smile, and said, "So, you're still alive. Maybe you're less pathetic than I thought."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: This turned out a little shorter than i had originally intended this chapter to be, but here lately time is getting shorter and shorter, and I didn't want to wait another month to release this just so I could add the 2000 odd words of Konata's part. Instead, that'll be in the next chapter when I get around to it. I do realize that this chapter especially may be confusing in the Kagami part, but I'm going to work on clearing up my reasoning with her experiences over the next couple chapters. I'm really happy that I'm finally almost done setting up the plot, and as soon as I get some more time to write, i can actually start moving forward with the storyline, and get to the story I wanted everybody to see.<p>

Thank you everyone for your continued support, and as time goes on I'll try not to disappoint you. As always I welcome any and all critique, I promise I can handle it.


	10. Blink

Chapter 10 – Blink

"Maybe you're less pathetic than I thought."

The way the cold voice said it sounded like its owner had decided she was an ant rather than a gnat. His superior tone really grated on Kagami's nerves. Konata had the same habit of talking down to Kagami on anime issues, calling her a "Mundane." It always got her blood boiling when the little Otaku used that tone, but coming from this man she was just pissed. Even angry though, it wasn't like she could actually do anything against him. The man had a pistol and a katana, all Kagami had was a radio, and two cell phones.

She replied coolly, raising her self up slowly from her pathetic stance in the corner up to her feet, although she remained in the corner, watching him for any signs of hostility, "You said your name was James right?"

He nodded and his cold smile never changed, Kagami got almost the same overbearing feeling from this man that she had gotten from Johnson. Although she couldn't feel any of that presence directed at her. Johnson had seemed very intent on breaking her and showing how superior he actually was. James on the other hand seemed so confident in being superior he had decided she wasn't worth breaking or convincing.

James said in reply, "I had really expected you to die out there. I've seen much stronger people than you get killed by them."

Kagami knew in her mind that by "them" he meant the Takers. She noticed his eyes traveling all over her body, and was almost expecting a perverted remark to come next when she saw his eyes rest on her hips, but all he said was, "A radio, huh? That's pretty clever. A couple phones, looks like you're down two ribbons from last time, so I suppose they did get to you."

While he was talking, Kagami took the time to look him over, and noticed something different about their last encounter. His blue jeans were torn in a couple places, and his red t-shirt had dark stains as well as a few holes. The whole left sleeve was torn off of his heavy denim jacket, and there were bruises on his face.

Last time he had been neat and tidy, and then Kagami realized the stains on his shirt were slowly getting bigger. If James cared about her scrutiny, he never indicated it, but Kagami was worried. He looked like he had been seriously hurt, she asked firmly, "What happened to you?"

James cocked his eyebrow quizzically, and then looked down at his condition, before replying calmly, "I had a run in with Johnson earlier."

Kagami trembled remembering how strong Johnson had been. She had felt utterly helpless in front of him, but it looked like James had actually fought with the man. James continued, "He managed to get away before we could get too serious though, I don't like the kind of hurry he was in. The bastard's like Jacob was when it comes to not dying."

"Jacob?" Kagami responded.

"Not important." answered James.

Kagami could hardly believe in his condition James was saying he and Johnson hadn't even gotten serious, but now that he was here in front of her, all the things Johnson had said to her about James were floating back into her mind, and the Tsundere couldn't help but tremble when she thought of the awful things James was supposed to have done.

Kagami asked him straight out, determined to get at least one thing out of the way before she started asking questions or he decided to leave, "Are you and Johnson really not together? He seemed like a monster when I met him, and I get almost the same feeling from you."

James just replied, "As if I'd ever work with that man. I've been trying to kill him for years now, but he keeps getting away. Someone like him doesn't need to be allowed to live."

Kagami was taken aback by such a straight out declaration, and asked him, "Can you really kill someone so easily?"

"Now you sound like Katahaba, the idiot." replied James.

Kagami responded, not sure why she felt the need to defend Katahaba, "Well I'd say he's not so idiotic if he has the good sense to know killing people is wrong."

"You're right," interrupted James, and after a short pause he continued, "but it's been a long time since Johnson has been something I would classify as a person."

Kagami took that in, and asked him, "What do you mean by that?"

James just answered, "You know full well what I mean, you said yourself he felt like a monster. Just remember he's no different from any other monster you see in this place. Just a pathetic soul trapped by his own shortcomings like the rest of them. Maybe even us too."

Kagami's stomach sank as she remembered the monstrous feeling Johnson gave her, how disgusting his invasion of her mind had felt. Her stomach then turned when she remembered the vision she had seen of the Taker before he had become a monster. Just a desperate man looking for his daughter. Kagami had no idea how the two could be related.

Still that subject could be put away, she needed information about this place, not the people in it. The more Kagami understood about this world they had come to reside in the more secure she felt that she could find Konata. She had learned to stop the darkness from taking her mind from her, now she needed to learn how to find Konata. Already Kagami had an idea of how to go about it, just like her will to resist the dark for Konata's, and her family's sake, she believed she could make this place lead her in the right direction.

Conjecture was different from reality in many cases though, and the lavender haired girl doubted this subject would be any different from any other subject in that matter, and therefore she needed more information to begin making a plan on how she could get Konata, and make their way out of here. Kagami relaxed her muscles, and decided if James was going to kill her, he probably would have already done it.

Kagami reasoned that a man like him would probably respond best to a direct approach. Anything other than strength and boldness so far seemed to just aggravate him, so she decide to ask him straight out, "What can you tell me about this place? I hate to sound rude, I do want to know about you and Johnson, but that comes second to finding my girlfriend, Konata. Can you please tell me anything you know that could help me?"

James' cold grin faded, and he regarded her with a look that actually made her think he might have recognized her as a human finally, and he responded, "Looking for someone? You're just like almost everyone else here. You got Katahaba looking for me no matter how many times I kick his ass, and tell him to leave. Me looking for Johnson, a guy looking for his daughter, another for his wife, another girl looking for her sister. The only real thing that sets us apart from you is that we're all actually doing it, while you just sit and think about it."

Kagami's stomach sunk a little lower as she half accepted the truth behind what he was saying. It was true, she felt completely helpless. Konata had been taken away from her, and she hadn't been able to do anything, and she was so overwhelmed by this entire experience she hadn't been able to do anything more than form a couple inklings of a possible plan to set about looking for her girlfriend. The logical side of Kagami however, accepted there was nothing she could possibly have done yet, and she decided she would make up for it with action now.

In order to take action though, Kagami needed more information, that was the key she was lacking in this whole affair, and she hated it. All her life Kagami had studied, studied, studied, knowing all that preparation would help her to survive, and take care of everyone she cared about in the real world, but suddenly this was a new world, with a new set of rules, and without any preparation, how could she possibly move forward?

James sighed, and said, "Haven't you noticed anything weird about this place at all?"

Kagami felt that was a dumb question. This whole world was weird, deserted, and freaky. She decided not to say those things, and accidentally piss off her one source of information though. Instead Kagami thought about it carefully. James didn't seem the type to ask rhetorical questions, and probably expected at least an educated guess in response. So Kagami asked something that had been nagging at her for a while, "How did you learn to speak Japanese so fluently?"

The lanky man smiled a genuine smile this time, and Kagami knew she was headed in the right direction of convincing him she wasn't completely pathetic. He responded, "Attention to detail. If you actually stop and listen you'll hear I'm not speaking Japanese. In fact neither are you."

Kagami's eyes widened, her own mind instantly denying what he said, but when she went to form a response her words just seemed to fall out of her mouth incoherently. James spoke again, and Kagami couldn't deny it now that it was pointed out, "Here, we all speak the one language. I don't know if it originates from that BS religion the Order preaches at Wish House, and maybe this place _did_ actually used to be some kind of paradise, which I highly doubt, but it doesn't change the fact that when we come to this world, we speak the same language. It feels so natural most people wouldn't even know it until it's pointed out. Johnson calls it, "The Language of the Spirits," apparently this is a place where people can come to truly understand themselves, and one another."

Kagami tried to take that all in. It reminded her of the scientific notes she had found earlier, saying all people might belong to one "Spiritual Family." A part deep inside her was happy though. A part of her that cherished the loved ones she had around her wondered at how great it could be if all people in the world could communicate with each other as easily as she spoke to James now. Without a language barrier there might even be a way to end wars. With perfect communication, Kagami knew the whole world would become closer.

Still, James had brought up Wish house, and an even larger part of Kagami shuddered as she remembered what this man was supposed to have done in that place. The Tsundere asked him, "Did you really kidnap those children from that Wish house place?"

James looked surprised she knew about that, and responded, "I personally didn't, but you may as well call me guilty. I didn't allow the children to return. Jacob was the one who took them though."

Kagami could see James' knuckles turn pale as he clenched his fists in anger. He continued, "Jacob took every one he could. He always believed they were better off here than in Silent Hill. Maybe he was right, maybe he was wrong, but it doesn't really matter anymore."

The lavender haired girl felt her stomach turn when she thought of a man coming out of the darkness, and dragging little children into this hell. It made her want to throw up. To think that James stopped them from leaving this place was another horrible crime altogether. There was no way anyone could justify that. She responded angrily, "How could you do something like that!? Don't you care about those children at all?"

"NO ONE EVER CARED ABOUT THOSE CHILDREN!" he roared, frightening Kagami into pressing herself tight back against the corner again. He had looked like a wild animal in that instant his rage had slipped out.

He was quiet for a few moments, and the dark and silence tried again to press into their minds, but both of them fought it back, and he continued, almost whispering, "I've seen horrible things. Do you know what it's like, to have to consider killing your cell mate to get your hands on some rotten rat meat he hoarded? To watch everyone around you shrivel, be tortured and die day in and day out? To have the so called, 'Heroes.' The police themselves laugh at your misery, and spit on you?"

Kagami tried to respond weakly, but he cut her off, saying, "I never knew anything besides that until I came here. I hated it. I hated them. I hated everyone. I became strong enough to endure it, and even thrive. I used to come here to this place just to escape that hell, and I became stronger. More faithful as the Order would word it. I can't stand weaklings. The people who cry and whine about how they're not strong enough to accomplish anything by themselves. The people who won't take action because they're too scared. The people who oppress others because they're afraid of the strength other people might have. I have always had to be strong to live, and I can't stand people who make up excuses as to why they can't do the same thing."

Kagami felt her bottom lip quivering. This man, his voice sounded so tortured. She could almost hear his soul crying for help, asking for someone to save him from his misery in being all alone. A tear leaked from her left eye as Kagami remembered a certain blue haired Otaku who had once come to her sounding like that. Kagami had taught that person then how to move on, and she decided she would try and teach James now as she spoke, "Strength isn't all there is to living."

Kagami smiled sweetly at him, wondering how much he was hurting inside, and thankful she had never had to experience any of the awful things he talked about. He looked angry at her response, but he didn't immediately speak out again, so Kagami continued, "I'm not strong. I've never been strong, and I seriously doubt I'll ever be strong at least in the way you're talking about."

"Shut up," he muttered, but Kagami didn't.

"Any time I've come close to giving up into despair, I know I always have someone to pick me up. Even here. Even here when I feel like this world is going to tear my mind into pieces, every time it gets so bad I can't handle any more one of them will save me. Whether it be my little sister who always makes sure I try hard, and never give up on myself, or Konata who can stand in front of me and protect me, I know they'll always be here for me," Kagami finished.

The lavender haired girl saw a quick blur accompanied by sparks as James' katana rammed into the wall next to her, eliciting a loud yelp from the Tsundere. Out of the corner of her right eye, Kagami could see he had rammed his katana about three inches deep into solid concrete beside her, and shuddered to think about how easily it could have gone through her if James was in a killing mood.

James said quietly, "You really piss me off, you know that?"

With his closeness, Kagami could see how bruised up his face was, and the stain on the chest of his shirt was covering most of his abdomen, and still he didn't seem bothered by it. Kagami swallowed hard, and said, "You're not alone James. I've met Katahaba, I saw how much he cares about you. A person's strength alone isn't important, it doesn't have to be. The only thing that matters is that when we're all together, we can all be strong for each other. I know if you ever feel like you can't handle things anymore, he'll be there for you, all you have to do is believe in him."

Kagami didn't know why she felt like she needed to take care of this man. She felt she needed to do anything she could to ease his suffering. He pulled his sword from the wall, and sheathed it on his back, and for just a moment, Kagami noticed his chest bulge out, and noted on where his hidden holster was. Then he grinned, almost a happy grin, but he definitely now had an approving look towards her as he said, "What's your name?"

She responded, "I'm Kagami. Kagami Hiiragi."

James turned away from her, and said, "You sound a lot like Katahaba. He's told me the same thing a hundred times."

Kagami felt a little annoyed at how he sounded like he was talking to himself rather than her, almost as if he had dropped back to not considering her a person. She responded, "Well, you should listen. It's really great to have people to rely on."

James nodded, and replied, "I'm sure it is, Katahaba says it is, but the fact still remains that Katahaba is probably the weakest person besides yourself I've ever seen survive here. He used to be a lot stronger before he starting helping people out of here. Sure, you may be stronger while you're relying on someone else to help you, but how long do you think this place will let you keep those people with you? What do you do when they're not around?"

Kagami could see his point, but she could also see this man didn't grasp what she was saying at all. Relying on other people was so foreign to him he couldn't understand she didn't mean to physically rely on someone else, but just knowing them in your heart could give you lots of strength. If she was about to give up, Kagami knew her drive to save Konata, or to see her family again would drive her on. It was really sad that someone like him wouldn't be able to grasp at the real meaning behind her words.

Even if their meaning was lost on him though, Kagami now felt much stronger herself having said it out loud. She usually had so much trouble admitting her feelings, but being embarrassed about her feelings seemed just humorous in light of all the troubles she currently had to deal with. James still stood before her, looking both ragged, and as if he was considering something. He said, "If it's true that your strength is just different from mine, I can accept that. I won't accept that the weak can roam free in this place though, while the strong struggle to survive. Tell you what, I'll give you a chance. I'd like to see if you're actually strong here, or if you've just got a good bluff, so for now I'll let you go. I'd advise you to forget about whoever you're looking for, and leave."

Kagami felt a vein protrude from her forehead, and responded, "I won't."

The lanky brunette man chuckled, and said, "I know you won't. You're going to keep on pushing deeper and deeper until you find yourself in a hole you can't climb out of. That's inevitable for all of us if we go deep enough, but if you're right, then maybe your "People" well help you climb out."

Kagami took this as a dismissal, but she wasn't quite done yet. She asked him, "Listen, can you tell me anything that'll help me find her?"

James began walking away quickly melting into the darkness on the other side of the room. The pool of light caused by Konata's phone didn't help her see the big door she heard open, and he said, "Johnson always told me that you look for something in this place the same way you do anything else here. With faith."

Kagami dimly understood what he meant. Her belief in her ability to find Konata was all that had led her through the Takers' cave. Still, she wasn't sure if it could just keep leading her in the right direction without any sort of leads. That was all she was getting though, and so Kagami replied, "Thank you. You know... if you ever feel like everything is too much though, even if I can't do much for you, you can always come tell me about it. I'll be here to listen, and I know Katahaba will too, so you don't have to be all alone if it isn't what you want."

He replied coolly, having regained his oh-so-superior tone, "I'll keep that in mind."

His words were punctuated by a dull echo as the door shut in the darkness, and Kagami sank back into her corner, sitting and resting for a few moments while she gathered her thoughts. Kagami held her head in her hands, and felt her sweat as she ran her hands through her hair. She had become accustomed to the cold up above, but the darkness was hot. Maybe as if to symbolize that she was completely, and utterly in hell now that she had given up her chance to go back.

Kagami couldn't go back though, not yet. She couldn't live with herself if she left Konata all alone here. She had promised to always be there for the smaller girl a year ago when they had become lovers, and so far she hadn't done a great job of it, but Kagami knew inside that she always tried her hardest to keep that promise. Even if she had her whole family, and all her friends to go back to, Kagami would never go running into their arms for safety as long as Konata was still in danger.

Once again she reflected on that awful roar she had heard as her consciousness had slipped away when Konata was taken from her. She believed in her heart that she would know it if something had happened to Konata. She believed that her Kona was waiting for her somewhere in the darkness that had become their world. Standing up, and crossing over to the door James had left through, Kagami believed as long as there was breath in her body, she would find Konata, and save her.

* * *

><p>The elevator doors slid open, and Konata emerged, flipped her flashlight on, and projected it into the dark hallway ahead. Her stomach was knotted tightly. This was the first time she had been alone with time to contemplate on it since coming here, and Konata could only imagine how bad this would be on Kagami. Her Tsundere was very much afraid of being left alone, and for a small part of her life Konata had been too.<p>

Konata had been taught by Kagami though, that no matter where she was, she was never alone. Konata knew Kagami would be doing everything in her power to make it back to her, and the little Otaku wanted to find her lover before Kagami ended up getting lost in this place. Finding a way out could wait until later, but finding Kagami needed to be her immediate priority. That took precedence over any kind of fear she might feel.

Konata told herself that, but she was still sweating as she fingered the knife at her waist, and shined the flashlight around. The walls looked to be made of some ancient iron long since rusted, or maybe it was dried blood that gave them that color. Occasionally the rust color would give way to sickly looking yellowish spots. The floor was patterned ceramic in white octagonal shapes with blue diamonds spacing out each octagon. It sort of reminded Konata of the floor scheme at some shopping malls she had been to.

As for her immediate area the blue haired girl noted this little hallway had three doors in front of her, not counting the elevator behind her. As she thought of the elevator she heard a groan behind her, and looked back quickly to see the metal doors sliding closed. Konata watched in a mixture of fear and awe as the wall started bubbling outwards where the metal doors were, and when the roiling stopped there was only more rust and bile colored metal wall where the elevator had once been.

Konata briefly reflected on whether or not it would still be on the other side of the wall if she could no-clip, but shook herself away from those thoughts, instead deciding that going after Kagami was more important than thoughts like that. Still, on the inside Kona couldn't deny a very small part of herself that was excited. Sure, Kagami and fear were more dominant right now, but that little Otaku that could never be rooted out of her whispered about how this was finally an adventure. A real adventure for her.

She wasn't dreaming about something from some anime, this was actually happening to her. If Kagami hadn't been involved in all this, Konata didn't doubt there would be a larger part of her feeling that way. Kagami _was_ involved though, and so the little Otaku set off, not really knowing where to go, but feeling as if this place would lead her in the right direction as long as she played its little games.

"Door Number 1," she said out loud, her voice giving her a little more courage as she approached the first door on the left hand side.

It was old, and strange enough, even though placed in a metal wall, the door itself was wooden. It actually kind of looked like a door you'd expect to find in a house, but not something you'd expect deep underground. The Otaku regarded it with a mixture of suspicion, remembering some games where trap doors fell on people. She really hoped that wouldn't happen. Death by door fall was a really lame way to go.

Konata twisted the small bronze doorknob, and pushed inwards. The door creaked open, and Konata stepped inside quickly, checking all the corners of the room with her flashlight. Konata heaved a sigh when nothing attacked, but upon closer inspection of the room she noticed how out of place it actually was. The soft blue carpet, and pale white walls, as well as a small brown table and a couch and a bookshelf in the corners.

Konata was in somebody's living room. Her flashlight illuminated the bookshelf, revealing that this person had had no manga at all. Moving on she shined her light at the curtains, indicating a window, and brushed them aside only to reveal more pale white plaster wall behind it. Konata wondered if maybe she could get outside through the wall,and rammed her knife into it, making a hole, but as soon as she pulled it out the wall started bubbling like when the elevator doors had disappeared, and rebuilt itself.

"Looks like there's not going to be any sequence breaking in this place," she muttered.

The Otaku moved on to the table, which had an old magazine, and a battery powered tape recorder sitting on it. Upon closer inspection the battery was charged as the light on the top was lit up dimly, but there was no tape inside it, so it was useless. The magazine was dated on the front from the 1970's, and featured a big bald black man smiling out at her. That smile gave the Otaku chills, and was glad she personally had never met the man. The headline of the magazine was in big yellow letters, reading, "New Head at Wish House."

Konata's interest was piqued by this for some reason, and she could almost feel the strings of this place winding around her, tugging her deeper into its game as she flipped to the indicated page of the article on this man. She read quietly, not sure exactly why this place would want her to see this.

_Today's main feature is from the resort town of Silent Hill. _

_For anyone who hasn't found the time to make any vacation plans there I highly_

_recommend it. Not that vacationing is the topic of this article, but rather one_

_Johnson Ray Clyde. _

_This man has had it rough, growing up an orphan at the Wish House orphanage _

_overlooking Toluca Lake there in Silent Hill back in the 40's, he managed to work hard,_

_get his college degrees, make a good sized fortune, and then he decided he would_

_give back to the world._

_This man has not only dedicated all of his own funds ranging somewhere _

_around $2.6 million at last count, but he has also agreed with_

_the Silent Hill Smile Support Society charity organization, also_

_known as 4S in the local region, to be taking over as manager_

_of the entire orphanage where he grew up._

_Our magazine just wanted to give him a special feature _

_for being such a wonderful man._

Konata snorted, and thought what a load the article was. Anyone who took a good look at this Johnson guy would know he wasn't a wonderful man. She briefly wondered if the people who wrote the magazine had been paid off. Still, right now that wasn't her concern, right now she needed to get moving, and find Kagami, wherever her Tsundere was.

Konata glanced around the room one more time, making sure she hadn't missed anything important. After searching around, she exited the little living room, back into the sickly hallway she had been in before. Straight across from her was a large metal door with a hooked doorknob more like what she was expecting to see on the doors around here.

Giving the hallway another quick scan, the Otaku took the three steps across the hallway, and tried the door, but only managed to move the handle a fraction of an inch in either direction. Konata felt annoyed. This place refused to just let anything be easy. All of her gamer instincts told her that the way she needed to go was on the other side of that locked door too.

Kona took a moment to relax herself. She was getting tense, and her breath was coming out a little short. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, and leaned against the wall for a second. She told herself she was being stupid. She couldn't be scared while she still needed to find Kagami. Konata forced herself onwards to the third door about six feet further at the end of the hallway. She had to stop once again outside the door as she noticed by her light that her hands were shaking.

She exhaled a few times, and then breathed in deeply steadying her hands, and trying to force the knot in her stomach to unclench a little. Yes, she was scared, she could admit it, but it couldn't get in the way of finding Kagami. Kagami was the most important person in her life, and even if Konata was terrified, she couldn't let herself be frozen up in fear again. She had locked up when she had first seen the glutton earlier, and Kagami saved her.

Konata knew if she locked up again, she would die, and there was no way she could die, and leave Kagami here all alone. Even if they never got out of this place, as long as they were alive, at least they could still be together. Konata finally yelled out, "I'm being stupid!"

She opened the door quickly, and illuminated a tiny room. A door to her left, and a door to her right. The room itself was negligible, obviously made just as a junction between three places. So she had to decide on left or right. To the left she listened at the door, and heard the same silence that pervaded everything in this place lest she had the gall to break it. To the right she could hear some sort of hum on the other side of the door, but not loud enough to actually make out what it was.

If she was going to find something, she would rather it be something she could actually hear and see, so Konata clicked off her flashlight so she wouldn't be spotted by what was making the humming noise, and slipped the door open. Immediately Konata felt cold all over as her hair blew backwards. She pressed the button on the back of the flashlight for just a quick flash to see if she could see anything dangerous in here, and was rewarded with the sight of a giant fan in the middle of an incredibly large room.

The fan extended from a metal centrifuge on the other side of the room. It extended a good fifty feet out into the center of the room, and four blades about ten feet long each that spun in the center of the room causing a large wind to blow towards Konata's side of the room. Its speed wasn't blinding, but Konata doubted she could make it through the gap between the blades even if she ran her fastest, so she wasn't getting to the other side of this room.

She turned her flashlight back on, and illuminated all she could, seeing there was another hallway on the other side of the fan obstructing her. Shining her light at it she could see something obscenely creepy positioned in the center of the opening of the hallway. She recoiled at first when she saw it, and lost it in the darkness when her flashlight moved, but she illuminated it again just a second later.

It appeared to be an upper body mannequin. Just a torso, arms, and head, with a metal pole extending down to a round plate on the ground for support, but its resemblance ended in basic shape. The skin all over it was blue, and covered in bulging veins. Even the pole had the same blue skin that looked to have a leathery texture from a distance. The veins on the pole pulsated constantly, and its right arm looked to have been sharpened to a point instead of ending in a hand.

Its face was twisted, and looked almost as if a normal face had been compressed, and then slapped onto the mannequin haphazardly. If it wasn't for how perfectly frozen it was in place besides those pulsing veins, Konata would have thought it was alive. Just looking at it disgusted her though, and wound that knot in her stomach even tighter.

Konata was actually thankful for the big fan obstructing her from that thing, as she really didn't want to walk by it if she didn't have to. She instead decided to check out the half of the room she had access to. Shining her flashlight around, she followed the bare walls and floor, and noticed there were a couple objects on the floor, but nothing useful.

She spotted a scalpel lying next to the wall near the entranceway, but decided against picking it up since she figured her knife not only had more reach, but was actually made for fighting. She spotted a couple of old rusty cans of green beans, but apparently there was nothing important in this room. She looked back towards the fan one more time, its loud hum a nice reprieve from the awful silence she was about to return to, and yelped at what she saw.

The mannequin was now only about ten feet away from the fan on the other side. It had moved even without any obvious means for propulsion, and Konata felt sick as she got a better look at it, and saw its face seemed to be contorting. Maybe it was in pain, but she couldn't look at it anymore, and slammed the door shut behind her as she left.

Konata rested her back against the door, and panted for a few moments. That thing had been way too weird. Now she was even more thankful for that fan's obstruction since she knew the mannequin could move somehow. She hadn't heard anything over the hum of that huge fan of course, but she also hadn't noticed the mannequin moving at all even though she had illuminated the other side of the room a few times.

At least it wouldn't be able to get past the giant fan though, the fan would cut it to pieces if it tried to get through, so she was safe at least from it, but there was no telling what kind of creatures were wandering around here. Konata approached the door across from her, and opened it, looking into another metal corridor. It differed from the last hallway she had been in thanks to long windows spaced out along the walls.

The walls themselves were still that sickly rust and yellow color though. At the end of each window there was another metal door, and Konata dreaded having to check them all. She walked up to the first window on the right, not looking at the adjacent left window, and shined her light through it into the center of the room.

It looked like she was in a hospital ward judging by the medical equipment in the room. There was a small operating table in the middle, and various medical tools lying on a tray next to it. The room itself besides those though was bare, so Konata moved on to the next window. Right across from the first window Konata shined her light inside, and was rewarded by a loud hiss as she jumped back from it.

She could feel the wind blow her hair from the pressure in the jaws being released outwards as her light hit it. When her light strayed from the creature on the other side of the glass though, she saw its jaws snap closed, and not shatter, but actually cut through the glass and a bit of wall by where she had been standing just a moment ago.

Konata cringed back against the wall, stopping her racing thoughts which were shouting, "I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead," over and over again.

The Otaku remembered quickly that these gluttons only reacted to light though. As long as she was careful not to shine the light on it she was safe. If she did shine the light, she needed to keep it fixed on the creature until she was a safe distance away. Just like Katahaba had told them, they weren't really dangerous if you knew how to handle them.

Kona sagged down to her butt, and closed her eyes for a few moments, collecting herself. Her nerves were wound way too tight, and she couldn't think straight. She was angry at herself for letting herself be separated from Kagami. Who knew what her lover was going through right now because Konata herself hadn't been there for her.

She opened her eyes, and looked around once more, thankfully the hole the glutton had made in the opposite wall wasn't big enough for it to come out of. She stood back up, and regarded it seriously, before flashing it a victory sign, and saying, "I'll leave you to guard this place then, shout up if anything comes in behind me!"

The glutton just bumped aimlessly against the window again in response, and Konata moved on. The next window, which she lit up from a distance away, just in case, seemed to already have a small source of illumination inside it. A little glowing green dot appeared from the far side of the room. Upon closer inspection it looked like a little LED next to a lever of some kind.

A sweep of the room with her flashlight beam revealed nothing else in the room, so she opened the door, and went inside. She swept the floor with her beam, hoping there wouldn't be any kind of awful puddle monsters, and really, really hoping there wouldn't be anything ever that would even slightly resemble a tentacle monster.

The blue haired girl crossed the room, and pulled the lever from its position facing the ceiling down to where it faced the floor, and heard a click while she watched the light turn red. She waited, but nothing else seemed to happen. Deciding it must affect something somewhere else she exited the room, and shined her light further down the hallway, intent on continuing for Kagami's sake.

She yelped once again when she shined her beam down the hallway though. Only about ten feet further down the hallway, it was there, facing right towards her. Completely immobile except for its pulsing veins all over. Blue skin, and a pole connecting to the ground, now looking more like a pole made of bone than metal. The mannequin with the compressed face just stayed immobile facing her, while her breath caught.

Kona stumbled back a few steps, and turned from it, intent on going back the way she came. The Otaku knew it was a dead end, but maybe she could lure it close to the glutton, and take it out with her flashlight. Her hopes were dashed as she reached the glutton room, and found it on the opposite end of the room from her.

She blinked once, and tried to think of a new plan, and glanced back towards the immobile mannequin. She wanted to break down and cry when she saw it had moved closer to her now. She hadn't heard or seen it move at all, but it was closing in on her that was for sure. There was no way Konata was going into the glutton room though, no way she was being trapped between two monsters.

The Otaku turned tail and ran, thinking there was only one way she was going to escape it. She dashed to the door exiting the hallway, and slammed the door shut behind her, not that the mannequin had had to open it in the first place to get into the hallway with her. Konata approached the fan room, and listened at the door, no longer hearing the hum of the fan from inside, and she groaned.

That lever she had flipped had probably stopped the fan, and let the mannequin get out. She quietly cursed herself for pulling random levers without thinking, and the glutton for not shouting up after their agreement then headed towards the fan room. At least now she could look in the hallway on the other side of the fan. She opened the door, and had to suppress a third yelp when she saw it there, about ten feet away from her. It was now on this side of her. She shined her light around, and spotted another one at the entrance to the hallway she was headed towards. Her stomach knotted even tighter still, and she thought she might collapse under the strain of keeping her fear in check, but she had to keep going for Kagami.

There was more than one, so at least they weren't just magic teleporters she thought as she entered the room. She closed the door behind her, just in case there might be one she had missed in her original hallway, but when she turned back to the fan room, she saw the mannequins were both closer now. Konata ran to the side of the room, and decided to give them a wide berth as she headed for the hallway.

She moved slowly, keeping the light on the one closest to her, it never moved besides the pulsing of the veins. A bit of sweat dripped into Konata's eyes as she was watching it intently, and she had to wipe it out as it began stinging. When she looked back, the mannequin had closed in on her. It was five feet away, and she screamed, and stumbled away from it as its head turned towards her slowly with a loud noise like stretching tight leather.

She watched it, this was the first motion she had seen it make, and she took note to stay out of range of that sharp arm it had. She focused on its contorted face as it faced her. The small crushed up face suddenly stretched across the entire blank front of its face revealing big eyes, and nasty yellow teeth. She could see the wrinkles of its forehead, but the whole face was stretched thin across the front of the head.

Konata's heart jumped to her throat as she saw its face suddenly stretch out, and look at her. Then it shrieked. An awful pain filled scream. It screamed like a person who had just been stabbed, and Konata screamed, and bolted towards the hallway, passing by the second mannequin which followed the firsts example as she grew close to it. She made it three steps into the hallway when she spotted four more in a line in front of her, hindering her passage.

There were no other doors, so Konata ran straight towards them, and dove between the openings of the stems connecting them to the ground. They all screamed as she passed, and Konata noted that all of them had a different face and voice, almost as if all of them used to be different people. That thought was pushed back by adrenaline though as she came up from her roll, she threw herself to the side.

When she opened her eyes after coming out of her roll one in front of her jutted its arm at her with blinding speed, and Konata thanked her martial arts training alone for the dodge. She glanced back, and saw the four in the hallway had been joined by the two from the room, and had to dodge another strike from the mannequin she was dealing with after sweat dripped into her eyes again.

Konata put the dots together. She never actually saw them move besides the screaming, and the attack, because they only moved when she blinked. The reason didn't matter, nor did she care how they moved when they were rooted to the ground, but she had figured it out, and she took careful not to not blink at all. She faced the mannequins in the hallway as she backed away from them. They had been joined by the two that were out in the fan room, and she could see in the distance the one from the windowed hallway had made it in on the other side of the fan from her.

She was shaking, and sweating like crazy as her adrenaline ebbed, and she felt the eminent crash coming on from exerting so much energy so quickly. Konata fingered the knife on her hip, but quickly realized there were way too many to fight, and turned to run. She spotted a door at the end of the hallway.

Konata dashed through the single door, and slammed it behind her. Already her eyes were burning from not blinking, and she had to blink to moisturize them. After that she shined her light around the little room she was in, and to her horror realized it was dead end. The Otaku's light illuminated the tiny room, and she sagged down, and cried. She was stuck, there was no way to get out of here without those mannequins mobbing her. She cried hard, clenching her eyes shut, not wanting to open them to mannequins surrounding her. She just leaned against the door and waited. She opened her eyes after a few minutes, and immediately heard ragged breathing on the other side of the door, and knew it belonged to the mannequins.

One more blink, and they would probably kill her. Konata couldn't help but think about how she shouldn't be scared, after all, what was her life next to Kagami's? The really upsetting thing was that Kagami was going to be all alone. Kagami's worst fear in the whole world was being left by herself with nobody to love her, and Konata wouldn't be able to save her from that.

Konata looked up to where her flashlight was pointing from her lap as she sagged across the door, wondering how much longer she could keep her eyes open. Wondering if when she closed them, they would wait for her to starve to death before she opened them, or actually wait until she opened them so she could watch them kill her. On a shelf across from her, right where she was pointing her flashlight, Konata saw a little white cassette tape. Her eyes widened as her mind put the whole scenario together.

Then Konata suddenly felt it. She felt the tingles inside her. Not the tingles she felt when Kagami looked at her while she was aroused, but a different tingle altogether. This was the Otaku tingle. The one she felt when all the most awesome moments in anime happened, whether it was Ichigo going hollow, or Yuuko and Mio shaking hands.

She was terrified, she could say it. She actually _needed_ to say it. Konata wasn't the type of person who could keep her feelings inside for very long. She was the opposite of Kagami in that regard. The last time she had tried to act like everything was okay, and not tell anyone about her problems, things had gotten really bad for her. So bad she had even considered hurting herself over it, but all the people who cared about her refused to let her stay miserable like that, and right at the front of the crowd, leading all of them had been Kagami.

Kagami had been her hero then just like all those anime characters had been her heroes before, and none of them had ever given up on her. They had always been there when she needed them no matter how bad things had gotten. Konata knew even if the rest of her life was going to be very short, maybe only a few seconds longer, there was no way she was going out like a rat. She stood, and grabbed the cassette tape, and turned back towards the door. Her eyes were burning, but she kept them open.

Konata opened the door to screaming. She hit her knees, and crawled between the mannequin stems, feeling tears roll down her eyes as she thought of how much they had to hurt in order to scream like that, not to mention how badly it was hurting her ears. Her eyes burned, and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep them open much longer.

She brushed against the slimy stems, and felt disgusted, but she made it through them. As soon as she was clear Konata stood, and dashed with all her might back into the fan room, finally blinking when she made it to the end of the hallway, and out into the fan area. She immediately regretted it as when she opened her eyes one of them was right in front of her, stabbing at her.

Konata dodged left, towards the door, but was slightly nicked on her cheek, and cried out thinking she had been injured worse than she really had. No time to check the blood flow though, she dashed for the door, and cleared the room, blinking again while on the other side, knowing they moved closer to her. Konata looked down at the plain white cassette tape, not sure how this was going to help her get out of here, but this was what the place wanted her to get, so she chose to believe it wouldn't strand her here with no escape. She regarded it with only mild curiosity as she grumbled, "There better be some Miku on here."

The Otaku headed back over towards the living room, doing a sweep for anymore mannequins along the way, and fumbled the tape into the tape recorder before hitting play. Konata shut the door, and sat down on the couch, keeping her eyes clothes while she listened to the tape.

"_God damn it! Why did I ever agree to come here!? Sure they pay for everything we need, _

_and it's once in a lifetime research, but it's not worth this hell. Johnson says_

_he can keep us safe, but this fucking dark is everywhere. Not just where you see it,_

_but it's inside of all of us too. Just waiting for a chance to take us._

_It's too late now, though. It's all fallen apart, and I see what Johnson really wants._

_All he cares about is this god of his. He wants his paradise complete with_

_immortality, and he'll sacrifice anything to get it. Those poor children..._

_It may be too late for me to make up for what I've done, but_

_I swear I won't help him anymore._

_Not after today. I stood by, and watched him do awful things to the members_

_of the Order, but that woman was helpless. He was going to take her kid's_

_soul. I don't know why, except he's just evil. He really believes he can resurrect_

_his goddess. That's not even the worst part. The kid's dad has been taken over completely._

_The darkness took his soul while he tried to fight Johnson._

_Then he grabbed her, and ran and ran and ran. I know he made it out._

_He has no soul left though, the darkness is loose in the world._

_I can only hope somebody finds her, and takes her away from that thing._

_I'm so sorry for my involvement in all this. I'm going to collect my research,_

_and leave for good. When I get out, I'm blowing this wide open if it kills me._

_Johnson, the darkness, the god, Wish House, everything._

_I'll never let Johnson destroy anyone else's life again._

There are sounds of many papers being moved, and someone moving around before a door opens in the background noise, and the speaker gasps loudly, and the tape continues with a man who has a deep gravelly voice. Konata's neck hair stands on end when she hears it, and immediately hates this man.

"_Calihan. Where do you think you're going?"_

"_Johnson? You fucking monster, you stay away from me!"_

"_I'm afraid I can't do that. You knew what you were getting into."_

"_I came for research, I was interested in this place as a paradise, not your twisted dream!"_

"_Sacrifice is required for all rewards Calihan. The greater the reward,_

_the more sacrifice is required."_

"_Johnson...you made that lady miserable. You lied to her, and killed her."_

"_The scriptures are quite clear. Our goddess can only be born to cleanse the world_

_through pain and suffering. Only from souls and vessels_

_that meet very specific conditions. You agreed to this."_

"_I only agreed to helping the baby be born, I just wanted to see if it could be done."_

"_Calihan, you're just as guilty as myself in all this, but don't worry._

_Our mother is very merciful. She will forgive us when she resurrects."_

"_It all failed though. We managed to stop you. Your goddess isn't coming back!"_

"_For now, that may be true. Though it's only a matter of finding more souls that meet the requirements._

_I believe I'll find everything I need to start over at Wish House."_

"_You're sick Johnson! You stay away from those kids!"_

"_Who's going to stop me?"_

Konata cringed as she heard a quick scream suddenly cut off, and then the sound of footsteps growing fainter before she heard a door open and close. After that only silence stretched on. The Otaku shivered. She couldn't imagine any of what they talked about, but there was no doubt in her mind that this was the same Johnson featured in the little magazine on the coffee table in front of her.

Konata felt sick. An orphanage? He wanted to hurt orphans!? Konata felt rage boiling up inside her, and felt tears starting to flow freely down her cheeks. All her life, she had wanted so desperately to be a mom, so she could have her children, and love them and take care of them, and this evil man gets a whole house full of children.

It wasn't fair. If she had been there, she could have loved, and taken care of all those children, but instead the orphans who had probably already suffered so much in their life were left with a wicked, hateful man like Johnson. Konata couldn't stand the thought of them being left all alone with that awful man.

Who knew what even happened to those poor kids. Konata remembered the dates on the magazine. Johnson would be an old, old man now. Those poor kids had probably never even had a chance to get away from him. If Konata could have been there, she would have done anything to save them, but she had a feeling they were all long gone.

Konata's thoughts were interrupted by a loud click in front of her, and her eyes flashed open, ready to dodge in case the mannequins were back, but she saw the cassette player open on the table in front of her. On the inside though lay not her tape she had put in, but a little bronze key. Kona's hands trembled as she took the key from the cassette player, and looked towards the exit of the living room.

Konata walked slowly over to the door, and listened. On the other side there was ragged breathing. A lot of it, as she stepped back from the wall she realized it was a dull roar. She could hear it even from the other side of the living room. The mannequins were out there. More than she had even seen before. She could hear them breathing from every direction, and it was driving her crazy.

She stood next to the door, and swallowed hard. Konata knew full well this key unlocked the door right across from this one, but it sounded like there were hundreds of mannequins out there. If she didn't blink, she might be able to make it, unlock the door, and get away. A large part of her wanted to curl up on the floor, and cry herself to sleep. A large part of her wanted to give up, she didn't want to have to go against those monsters again. Even that little Otaku that thought of this as an adventure had been more than sated, and was ready to go home, and never adventure again.

Then Konata thought of those poor children at Wish House. She couldn't do anything to help them. Then she thought of Kagami. Kagami was all alone somewhere around here. Konata could almost feel her. Kagami, who she would always take care of and protect. Konata knew there was no way she could give up here. Even if she was scared, fear wouldn't stop her. Even Katahaba was scared, he never tried to hide it.

Katahaba didn't back down though, and neither would she. Konata prepared to do probably the stupidest thing she had ever done. She was going to dash across the hallway, and go through the locked door. If the probably hundreds of mannequins didn't catch her in those three steps across the hall, she was going to find Kagami. The Otaku knew she wouldn't let anything this place had stop her.

Konata knew for certain she would die if she tried to stay in this room. This place wouldn't take her refusal to play along with it very well. Konata decided then and there to beat this place. It may be stringing her along, but there was no game Konata couldn't beat, and that included this place's deadly game.

Konata inhaled sharply, put her hand on the doorknob, and swung the door open, already running.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:I'm quite pleased with this chapter as I accomplished everything I set out to do with it. The plot setup is now pretty much done, and I expect the story to start moving forward from here. The mysteries are in place, and they now need solving. Can Konata, and Kagami rise to the challenge? What about our mysterious OC's James and Katahaba? All I can say on that issue is maybe.<p>

This was a very big chapter, and I edited the crap out of it, hopefully there are no mistakes anywhere, but that's highly unlikely especially in this big chapter. If you have any grammatical issues you can teach me to avoid, please do, as a lot of times I'm unsure as to the finer points of punctuation especially in regards to dialogue.

As always I appreciate everyone for reading this as I have a lot of fun making it. It's nice to hear some feedback on my writing style, as every bit of critique helps to make the overall story better. I look forward to the next time I speak to all of you.


	11. Resonance Part I

Chapter 11 – Resonance Part I

The darkness was there. It was everywhere in this place, seeping inside people's minds and their hearts, and yet even though it was all around, Katahaba seemed as if he could barely feel it. A gentle light shined from his companion as he walked backwards, facing her with his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner. When people he cared about were there for him, there was always an extra bounce in his step, and Katahaba wasn't the type of person who would try and hide it just because he was scared of this place.

She listened while he talked on and on about the great times he had had with his big brothers, and the rest of his family. The blue haired woman smiled as she listened. The big man in front of her sounding like an excited boy trying to get a story out. She loved taking care of people with all her heart, but in this place there was hardly ever anyone who believed in her. There was hardly ever anyone who trusted her.

Katahaba was different though. He had warmed up to her as soon as they had met. He had the habit of doing the same to everyone else he met even when they turned out to be dangerous. She had seen him go to great lengths to help people, and she honestly felt bad about it. She could do nothing for him, and yet he always came back. No matter how tempting it might be for him to run away.

Nothing going on here was his problem, he had decided on his own to involve himself with James' reckless decision to kill Johnson. He had been in the darkness ever since. Neither Katahaba nor James were the type to give up on an idea before they were finished with it, and taking into account how ridiculously stubborn and strong those two were, it meant sometimes things got crazy around them, crazy even for this world.

The shining lady chuckled in an amused manner, and Katahaba joined in assuming she was laughing at his story, and continued on, saying, "And then I was like ka-bam! Creed was piiiissed. He tore through the wall, and wrecked the floor coming after me, and I couldn't see where I was going because I was laughing so hard, and then he ran over James, and James beat the crap out of both of us. It was awesome."

Another story of a brawl with his brothers. That was the probably the most common kind of story he told since those three seemed to do nothing other than fight all the time. That was sort of expected though. Boys would be boys after all. The woman was pulled from her thoughts though as Katahaba motioned a stop. She immediately followed his directions, wondering why he would stop in the middle of a story, which was very unlike him as he usually kept talking until people wanted to pull their ears off to escape it.

Then she heard it. Further down the hallway, in a dimly lit area connecting three other dark halls in one nexus, she could hear sniffling, like someone was crying. As they crept closer, she could make out it was a child, and as they came to the end of the hall she could even see it was a small girl. It was a small blond haired girl, who was slumped on the floor crying into her hands. Her hair was matted with sweat, and her pink dress was torn in places. Katahaba crept up, studying her, and wondering if she might actually be a monster meant to lure them into a false sense of security.

After a couple seconds of watching, he shook his head, and whispered, "It's just a little girl."

The glowing woman nodded to him, and asked, "We have to help her. You should bring her to your home, and let her stay with the other children."

Katahaba thought for a couple minutes, keeping a close eye on the girl, and also glancing back and fourth between the three other openings into the little nexus area ahead. It was a circular room with the far wall being all rusty metal. Four hallways led into it, and they were all black except for the glowing woman, and the dim illumination prevalent in the junction. He eventually shook his head, and replied quietly, "Nah, I don't think it's too late for her to leave."

She raised a questioning eyebrow, and asked, "Are you sure? It's so rare to see children this deep."

Katahaba looked at the little girl as he whispered back, "She was probably just unlucky. I can tell from here she's not from Wish House. The dress is too pretty, they'd never give out something like that. It'd make children vain or some other crap. Besides that, you should always try and help someone solve a problem before you try and teach them to just deal with it."

Katahaba motioned for her to stay still while he silently entered the nexus. As he stepped into the dim light he purposely let his footsteps ring out louder to alert her to his presence. As his heel thudded against the metal floor the dull clang registered sharply, and the girl started away from the noise, crying out, and retreated on her hands and knees towards the dead end wall away from Katahaba.

The big man said loudly, "Wait a minute kid, I'm not going to hurt you."

The little girl at hearing his speech took her first look at him from the other side of the room. The blue haired lady had to admit, if she had been a little girl lost in this place, she probably would have distrusted Katahaba as well, if even mostly because of his rough looks. Katahaba and the girl stared intently at each other, and the big man made no move to cover the distance between them.

Instead he squatted down until he was on a similar level to her, and just put one of his hands out, waving a greeting. He said quietly to her, "Hey, how's it going?"

The girl gasped as he spoke. She regarded him, almost as if she couldn't believe she was seeing another person. The woman watching knew if she was in that girl's place, she would probably be sobbing into Katahaba's arms at about the time she realized he wasn't a monster, but the little girl kept her distance. Instead she spoke back to him, saying, "There's a monster. It's out there in the dark."

Katahaba stood up, and cast a glance around at the entrances to the other hallways around them, and then grinned back at the girl, saying, "Nah, there's no monsters around here."

"I'm not lying!" the girl shouted at him a few tears leaking from her scared blue eyes.

Katahaba replied to her, "I believe there was a monster, but it's not around now. It'd be way too scared to come after you while I'm around."

Silence stretched between the two almost a minute passed without speaking before Katahaba sighed, and asked, "So...what are you doing here anyways?"

She responded hesitantly, "I...I don't really remember. I was in the woods, and it was dark. My daddy was there, and he was yelling. I remember hurting a lot, and I think I fell asleep because I woke up here. Then that...that monster started chasing me, he won't leave me alone."

The big man shook his head, and then sat down, showing himself to her as being relaxed, and she took his example, and calmed down a little herself. Then Katahaba asked, "What's your name?"

She sniffled once before answering, "Carla."

Katahaba smiled, and said, "Tell me Carla, is your daddy a nice man?"

She winced at the question and the woman watching the scene unfold thought she heard a growl when the girl winced.

Carla herself though didn't answer the question, she just made a point of not looking the big man across from her in the eyes. The big man didn't press the subject, and instead pursued a different branch of questioning, asking the girl, "So, are you afraid of the dark Carla?"

She nodded her head in affirmation, before Katahaba continued, saying, "Is there anyone you would like to go back to?"

She responded quietly, "I just want my mommy. I told her he was bad, but she didn't believe me. She said I wasn't old enough to understand, but now he has us. We can't ever get away from him."

Katahaba stood up, and said, "Well I'll send you home now if that's what you want."

She nodded, and sniffled again before saying, "I looked all over, but there's no way out, do you know where it is?"

Katahaba nodded, and said, "What are you talking about? The way out is that door right behind you."

Now the growl had turned into a low rumble coming from one of the hallways. Whatever was here, it was big, and it was angry. Still Katahaba kept his grin up. As for Carla she moved away from the wall as if it were a demon as it started bubbling, and changing. When the commotion ceased she was looking at a little metal door where before there had only been a wall.

A faded sign above the door read, "Exit."

Katahaba walked up beside Carla, and knelt down hugging her from behind as the glowing woman walked into the nexus joining them. He whispered into her ear, "Remember Carla, someone like you doesn't have to be afraid of the dark. I'll always be the one waiting inside it."

He stood, and gave her a little shove on the back towards the door. She hesitantly opened it, looking at a long flight of stairs leading up to a white light. The monster back in the hallway behind them was louder than ever, and it sounded as if it were scraping something very sharp across the metal walls in its wake. No doubt it was the monster that Carla had been talking about.

Carla started up the stairs, and Katahaba's blue haired companion followed along closely behind her. As she passed the big man he said quietly, "Try and hurry please."

She nodded to him as he turned back to face the direction all the growling and screeching noises were coming from. Then the glowing woman followed Carla up the stairs, and into the light.

* * *

><p><em>Everything was dark, and Jonathon was screaming, "Carla! You get back here!<em>

_You don't want to know what I'll do to your mother if you try to run!"_

_He ran through the woods searching everywhere for the little girl, with a rifle in his hands,_

_as her mother screamed out behind him, "Don't listen to him baby! _

_You run, you run as far away as you can!"_

_Jonathan shouted back at the hysterical woman to shut up before firing a _

_shot into the air, and listening for anything running._

_He was positive he had managed to hit the little girl with_

_an earlier shot, he had even heard her scream, _

_but he couldn't find her anywhere._

_He needed to find her body before the police came snooping._

_He heard some bushes rustle to his left, and saw a small figure fleeing._

_The hunter grinned, and chased after her. Jumping the bushes, and mostly_

_rolling down the hill behind them. He came up covered in leaves, and cursing._

_The man with the rifle saw the figure disappearing around some trees ahead,_

_and followed behind, intending on setting an example on what_

_happens to bad girls who try to run away from him._

_He scrambled around the trees, and into a clearing when he saw the little_

_blond girl he was looking for unconscious at the opening of a large clearing._

_That was when he noticed how dark it was. _

_His stomach knotted up in nervousness as he began sweating, unsure why he was suddenly_

_overcome with fear. He approached the small girl, and knelt down,_

_placing a hand on her. She was warm, still alive, and yet she was so _pale.

_The paleness of death is what he thought as he swallowed hard._

_On the other side of the clearing he heard a twig break, and looked across._

_Then the screaming started._

* * *

><p>Katahaba's nervousness grew as the sounds got louder and louder. To have heard it so far away this wasn't an average sort of monster. This was the kind of monster you needed to run from as soon as you knew about it. Even so, Katahaba needed to wait. Sure his shining companion would most likely be fine on her own, but he wasn't keen on leaving anyone behind.<p>

He would wait for as long as he could, but as he heard the metal screeching in the distance, he wasn't sure exactly how long that would be, or how long he could hold a monster like that when it got there. Katahaba pulled the big pipe off his back. About three feet long, and solid steel. It had a curve at the top where it would normally connect to another pipe.

He felt a lot better as he held it in his gloved hands. Sure James had an awesome katana, and could deal a lot more damage, but Katahaba always felt better using weapons that had purposes besides killing things. Instruments of killing were beneath him, and one day he'd teach James the same thing.

* * *

><p><em>Catherine heard the screaming, and rifle shots as she chased after Jonathan.<em>

_She was intent on giving Carla as big a head start as possible. The little girl didn't_

_deserve this kind of abusive life, and Catherine was now prepared to give_

_her life to make sure her baby didn't suffer anymore._

_When she heard the rifle shots her heart jumped into her throat, and she screamed. _

_If Jonathan had hurt her baby, she would kill him, she would find some way_

_to make him pay for it. Then she realized the screaming was his._

_She dashed down a hill nearly falling, and towards the _

_large clearing in the woods up ahead._

_Three rifle shots and screams issued from the clearing._

_When she burst through the tree lining her whole body sagged._

_Faced with the sight in front of her, she gave up._

_It was so _dark_._

_Yet she could see everything._

_It seemed as if the darkness itself was wrapping around Jonathan, _

_pulling him towards the far side of the clearing._

_He screamed as it ripped his rifle from his hands, and bound his feet._

_Tendrils of darkness wove all around him, obscuring him._

_A small lump of darkness was all that told he even existed._

_Slowly it pulled him across the ground into the darkness on_

_the other side of the clearing._

_All Catherine could see was black._

_Not the black of night._

_Not the black void of space._

_It was the black that choked people's souls._

_The black that let you know to quit living, because there was no _

_light anywhere inside that abyss._

_Black was the last thing she saw before she fainted._

_And she smiled._

* * *

><p>Katahaba looked back at the metal door bursting open as a man was thrown out of it, landing on the floor at his feet. His shining companion walked out of the door, closing it behind her. It immediately began bubbling, and disappeared into the same metal wall again. Katahaba regarded the man on the floor who was screaming.<p>

He was wearing a flannel shirt with a white background and blue stripes. It looked as if he was carrying something in his shirt pocket as well, judging by the shape, Katahaba would say it was a small cartridge box, so the man had probably very recently had a gun. He had short brown hair that was all tussled, and soaked in sweat, and tanned skin that spoke of an outdoors life.

The big man tapped him with his foot, and the man scuttled back from him, almost in the same manner Carla had done just a few minutes earlier. He shouted at Katahaba, "Who are you!? What the hell was that _thing_!?"

Katahaba responded casually, "I don't know what you're talking about, bud. The only thing that happened around here was a more than fair trade."

The big man turned his back to the smaller man huddled against the wall near the opening to one of the dark hallways. The man called out quietly, terrified, almost like a little kid, "Wait..."

Katahaba sighed as he stopped. His companion stopped beside him, and said quietly, "You don't need to. He deserves this."

Katahaba shook his head, and replied, "Abandoning a defenseless person would leave a bad taste in my mouth, whether he deserves it or not."

Katahaba reached into his left pocket, and pulled out a switchblade knife. Not good for combat purposes, but it was better than bare hands. He tossed it to the man, and said, "This is your chance. You can still make it out of here, however hard it may be, I've never seen this place pit anyone against something they _can't_ overcome. Let me tell you something though, I don't know what you did to her, and I don't care. If you get out of here though...if you get out of here, and I ever even _think_ that you've hurt her again. You won't be able to hide from me even in your dreams."

Katahaba's companion shuddered as she heard his tone of voice. She hated hearing him sound like that. The anger and the hate in his voice. It almost made him sound like James. She never wanted Katahaba to end up like James, and she knew Katahaba never wanted that either, so it was worrying to hear his tone, and confirm that indeed, this place got under his skin just like everyone else.

The man darkened at Katahaba's threat. The big man sheathed his pipe as he turned away once again, walking away from the noises growing ever closer. He took three steps away from the man when he heard him pick up the switchblade. The man growled, and said roughly, "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just threaten _me_?"

Katahaba ignored him even as the man stood up, he wasn't any kind of threat to Katahaba, even with a switchblade. He did notice that the screeching of metal on metal was absurdly close now, the room rumbled with each strike from whatever monster was closing in on them. Katahaba was much more worried about getting away from it than whatever kind of threat the man could be anyways.

The angry man screamed out at him, "I'm a war hero dumb ass! I fought in Iraq! I ain't scared of you!"

The man ran at Katahaba's back, and he heard a gasp coming from his shining companion. The big man turned, ready to fight. The switchblade didn't add a lot of reach to the man's combat range. He would still have to get in close to fight Katahaba, and close range is where he was most at home. Katahaba read the knife path, this guy only had maybe a tenth the attack speed James had, which put him on even grounds with Katahaba in terms of speed, but the big man had strength, and the experience of fighting things several times more deadly than an angry man with a switch blade.

He moved to the side of the knife, grabbing the man's forearm in a blur of motion. He twisted the man's arm harmlessly to the side, holding the knife away from him with his left hand. Katahaba used his right hand to grip the man's shoulder tightly, squeezing it, and letting his attacker know just how overpowered he was. Katahaba met the smaller man's eyes, and said roughly, his voice taking on a slightly gravelly sound that made his opponent shudder, "I'm a lot harder to hurt than a little girl."

Katahaba shoved him back roughly, and as the man regained his balance, and looked back towards Katahaba, it was too late. The bigger man had already covered the distance between them, and as he was running into the smaller man, Katahaba grabbed his head, and rammed it forcefully into his own, knocking the man flat. Then Katahaba turned, and jogged towards the path he intended to take out of there. He had wasted too much time, and darkness was already spilling out of the hallway nearest to them. It roiled out like a black mist. Clouds announcing the mysterious figure of death come to greet the both of them.

Katahaba saw the red eyes back in the black mist, and decided he had seen enough of it when a long black metal scythe extended from the darkness, and crashed into the ground not ten feet from the man he had just floored. It pulled back, ripping the ground open, and making an awful shrieking as it cut through the metal floor. The man Katahaba had been fighting up to then suddenly seemed to forget his bravery, and rolled away from the scythe, headed in the opposite direction of Katahaba.

He gained his feet, and ran as the creature pulled itself into the junction of all the hallways. The torn ground immediately beginning to close itself. Whatever it was, it was slow, but Katahaba didn't care. It could afford to be slow, because there wasn't really anything they could do against it. It had many appendages seemingly made of bending metal, and it struck out blindly with them all ending in sharp scythes.

Katahaba could deduce two or three ways he might be able to fight it, but there was no way it was worth how hurt he could get when he could just run away right now. At least it wasn't until he noticed he had been so focused on the man who had hurt Carla he had forgotten his companion in the confusion of the brief brawl.

She was backed up against the metal wall, and Katahaba noticed she was looking at him. The black fog tendrils crept towards her as the creature pressed forward. The black smoke lashed at the shining woman only to be repelled by a bright flash of light before each little tendril made contact. Katahaba heard her whisper even at their distance, and over the screeching metal, "Just go."

The big man looked at the dark hallway behind him. His companion would probably be fine. She was stronger than he was anyways. Then he turned back to the monster, pulling his pipe out, and strode towards it. He wrapped it sharply on the ground creating a loud bang over and over, drawing the creature's attention.

Those big red eyes turned to face Katahaba, but the tendrils of darkness didn't stop their harassment of the shining woman. The blue haired lady's eyes were wide, and she started as Katahaba pointed at the big monster towering over him with his pipe. Everything was silent.

Katahaba looked the creature straight in the eyes, and said loudly, "Look here bud, I'm gonna tell you one time, and one time only. If you ever touch somebody I care about, I'll kick your ass from one end of this world to the other, so are you sure you want to do this or what?"

In the end, to Katahaba it didn't matter how strong she was. For that matter, it didn't matter how strong the monster was, because he was going to do a mixture of what he thought was the most awesome, and what he thought was the best thing to do anyways. Whether he was actually able to do the things he wanted would have to be found out during the execution.

The monster replied with one of the appendages towering above the front of its' fog of black. Katahaba watched the scythe slowly rise up, and moved out of the way as it came crashing down, tearing the floor. The shock of the impact made him stumble a couple of steps back, and he couldn't help but think about how he was getting in way over his head again. The big man really had a knack for attracting impossible fights with guys like James and Johnson. Even if this thing wasn't as strong as those two were, it was still plenty stronger than him.

"Alright big guy, don't say I didn't warn you," Katahaba said aloud.

Katahaba couldn't actually see what the monster looked like under all the black fog, but he was forming a plan as he stared into its big red eyes glowing inside the darkness. A bit of the fog suddenly pulsed out, and the big man took that as his cue to move as a much smaller scythe than before attached to a small spindly arm reached out for him.

He dropped, and rolled to his right, and came up charging. From what he had seen while it was moving, it had at least ten arms it had used to pull itself, which didn't necessarily mean it couldn't move without them, but he felt it would be severely hindered if he could take some of them out. He banged his pipe on the ground again, trying to taunt it into attacking. The plan worked, although not quite in the way he was expecting.

A whistling sound on his right prompted him to an attack at neck level moving in, and he could see another one coming from his left at about knee height. Reacting on instinct, Katahaba jumped, and braced his right side on his pipe. He cleared the bottom attack, and felt the second one crash into his pipe, and launch him upwards, spinning twice before coming down hard on the ground flat on his back.

The big man groaned loudly as he landed. That had hurt, but at least he hadn't been cut to pieces. This thing was way too strong for him to expect to beat without taking some heavy damage or dying in the process, and he wasn't really keen on a suicide attack, which really only left him with one option to end this all in one piece, and with his companion in tow.

Katahaba dashed to his right, looking out for any more attacks as he charged towards the glowing woman keeping that black fog at bay. He noticed the big scythe arching up over the creature again, and jumped forwards, clearing the strike, and rolling forward over his shoulders, and back up onto his feet as he landed. The next strike was a smaller scythe, but arching up over the top of the monster like the larger one.

It was too fast for him to dodge, so Katahaba placed his pipe over his shoulders, bracing it in place by hooking his forearms over the top of each end as he leaned into the attack, taking the metal blade across the pipe braced on his shoulders. Katahaba felt like he was being crushed as it struck, and drove him to his knees. The blade sparked brightly against the steel pipe, and as he struggled back to his feet he felt the tightly compressed muscles in his lower back protesting, and ensuring he would feel that hit for a while.

He chuckled as he imagined how Creed would probably laugh at him right now, and call him a pansy. He'd probably knock the monster into next week as well for messing with Katahaba. The big man wasn't as strong as Creed was though, actually, nobody was stronger than Creed. Not James, not Johnson, and probably not any monster in this whole place that he had ever seen. There could be little time for thought though, the next attack was coming from behind as a particularly long arm curved around behind him, pulling the scythe back quickly in an attempt to half him at the waist.

He dashed towards his goal again feeling a slight slice on on his back as the attack almost connected with him full on. Then he was there. His companion was looking at him with wide eyes, obviously wondering why he would go this far when he knew she was stronger than him. The fog burned, badly as it wrapped around Katahaba's left arm, and he hissed as bit at him like flames.

That didn't stop him from reaching through it to grab his little friend though. He grinned at her, and shouted loudly, "Time to run!"

He wrapped his arms around her, and dove to the side, pulling her with him as a large metal scythe slammed into the wall right where his chest, and her head had been a moment before. Katahaba came up running with his companion thrown over his left shoulder.

He heard it roar in anger as he disappeared down the hallway he had tried to go for earlier, and the screeches of its blades as they pulled it along after him. They were safe for then though, that monster was slow, and would never catch up unless the hallway happened to be a dead end. Katahaba chose not to think about that possibility though as he ran and ran.

He probably ran on for a full five minutes before he stopped to lower his friend to the ground, and clutch at the cramp in his ribs. His lungs were burning, and he doubled over on his hands and knees as his muscles punished him for his less than intelligent actions earlier. He was pulled from focusing how miserable he felt though by the voice behind him, saying, "Jacob, I would have been fine you know. There's no need to go so far for my sake."

The big man gasped for air for a few seconds before responding, "Don't...worry about it...You'd have done...the same for me."

She smiled at him, feeling moved, but also feeling the need to educate him by responding, "Actually no...that's against the rules."

He chuckled, and responded, "Well if it wasn't you'd have helped me, right?"

The glowing woman nodded, and Katahaba continued, "Well that's all that matters then."

She placed her hand on his back, noting she could still hear screeching metal far behind them as an angry beast tried futilely to catch up, and whispered "Jacob..."

He stood up slowly, and said, "You gotta stop calling me that, you know I'm supposed to be Katahaba now."

That was a little unexpected, and she said sternly, "Well, you've been Jacob to me all these years, so that's what I'll keep calling you."

He chuckled, and responded, "Well yeah, I'm Jacob to me too, you spend your whole life being called that, and you tend to remember it, but James said to be Katahaba, so I'll be Katahaba."

She sighed at his simple mindedness, but let it slide. James had his reasons behind that demand, but that didn't mean she liked it. Her reflection on that was interrupted by an unexpected comment from the big man, "Hey...do you think that Konata will really remember me?"

They both began walking at a brisk pace as a particularly large crash behind them let them know the monster was indeed getting closer little by little. She responded, "I think she will."

He scratched his chin at the answer, and said, "I'm not really even sure how I know her. I keep getting it in little flashes. I see a park, and Kagami was there, or at least I remember the twin tails. I think I was right there beside them, and a few other hazy things later on, but I don't remember how or when."

She patted him on the back, knowing full well why his memory was hazy. It would probably clear up sooner or later, this place would make sure of that. In Konata this place had finally found a way to attack the big man successfully, and she knew firsthand how much this darkness loved picking at people. She said, "I wouldn't worry about that for now Jacob, let's just find you a way out of here while I still have some time left."

He nodded, and they fell into a companionable silence. They walked, and she listened to his steps clicking on the metal floor, and the dull growl behind them as the monster never gave its chase up. She didn't know why, but her thoughts were all melancholic as they continued on into the eternal night before them. Deep inside she felt like a failure because all this was happening to the people she cared about. It was all her fault, and because she had been so foolish her precious people were paying for it. Rather they had been paying for it for a long time, and it was only now coming to a head.

She just hoped that when everything came to an end, that they would all still be alive, and maybe...just maybe...they could forgive her. They walked on and on until they came to a large staircase leading upwards a few minutes later. Katahaba wasn't keen on going up when he thought James was deeper, but it was much better than going back to try and fight that monster. They had been climbing stairs for nearly five minutes when his companion suddenly said, "I'm sorry Jacob, but I can't go any further."

She took a step back down the stairs, and Katahaba couldn't help but reach out for her, but she was already growing more and more transparent. His hand went right through her shoulder, and she turned to look at him. Just before she disappeared, the woman gave him a sad smile. Then she was gone, leaving Katahaba in pitch blackness. Then the big man felt like he was choking.

* * *

><p>Konata burst through the door, and immediately ground to a halt and she nearly choked as the giant breathe she had taken before she opened the door caught in her throat at the sight waiting for her. Mannequins. Mannequins everywhere. She looked to the left and the right, and no longer did this hallway end in a dead end, and on the other side a junction room, but rather it stretched on in both directions as far as she could see.<p>

The hallway was totally illuminated now by an unknown source, although the Otaku had a feeling this place just wanted her to see this. It wanted her to know it could do things like this. These mannequins weren't the blue skinned death bringing mannequins from earlier. They were actual mannequins complete with smooth white faces. All of them were facing her. As far as she could see they were packed tight like a wall, and she had no choice but to continue on towards the door in front of her.

She took the three steps, and inserted her key, still too scared to blink, and almost too afraid to breathe. The silence pressed in once again. She could no longer hear the ragged breathing she had heard from within the living room she had just come from, but just silence. She turned the key, hearing the latch click, and pushed the door open.

She looked back to see the mannequins had now even crowded in behind her, blocking her path back towards the living room, not that she wanted to go back there. She shut the door behind her, and sagged back against it for a minute, examining the new room she found herself in. There wasn't much to it. Instead of metal walls it had a plain white plaster wall, and there were some cement stairs leading up to yet another door.

A good sign, Konata mused. At least she was headed up, and even though the Otaku wasn't sure of exactly where she needed to be in this place, she doubted she wanted to go deeper. A little voice in her mind spoke out in worry though. Katahaba was going deeper. She could feel it, and he was all by himself. Why it grated on her nerves that she wasn't there for him, Konata didn't know, but she really wished that they had both been heading out of here.

For that matter, even more pressing was Kagami. The Tsundere was lost somewhere in this place, and unlike Katahaba, she couldn't even really fight back. As far as Konata knew, Kagami had never fought anyone in her whole life besides Matsuri, and that didn't really count. They had made a promise to always take care of each other, and yet so far Konata hadn't been able to do anything to protect Kagami. Even though Kagami always tried her hardest to balance her work, college, and her relationship with Konata, the younger girl always managed to make Konata happy.

She had gotten a full time job on top of her work at the cosplay cafe in order to pay for all of Kagami's tuition. The Otaku had worked herself to exhaustion to make sure Kagami could go to the good college she had wanted to go to, and she had made Kagami so happy. Konata had felt like she was actually taking care of Kagami like she had promised, and then all this happens, and even on their anniversary. A few tears were shed at the thought, she had worked all day long, and even though she was tired they had gone to meet up for the movie.

Konata had barely been able to keep her eyes open, but she had been so happy that there was no way she was going to miss the precious few moments she got to spend with her girlfriend. Now she didn't even know how much time had passed, or if it was still even their anniversary day. Her shoulder ached from where she had been cut open by that big creature's spiked tail earlier. She felt the bandage, and thankfully it didn't seem like the wound had opened back up.

Her back was aching as well from where Katahaba had fallen on top of her earlier during their fight with those dogs. The only amusement she could find in her situation was the bitter humor of knowing what it felt like to be an old lady always complaining about body aches like in anime. She sighed, and figured she would take what she could get. At least this place hadn't stripped her of her ability to find something humorous or entertaining no matter how bad things got.

Konata stood up despite her aching shoulder and back, deciding it was best not to linger in one place too long. Hopefully the mannequins wouldn't follow her any further, but even if they did, it didn't change the fact that she needed to find Kagami. Without Kagami she didn't even feel like herself. It was like the most important part of her had been ripped away. She needed to protect Kagami, and take care of her, but the reverse was also true, she needed Kagami to take care of her as well.

Being alone was awful, when she was alone those memories haunted her, the same memories that had driven her out of her home, were driving her crazy as she pressed on through the darkness. Konata's flashlight beam illuminated the stairs in front of her, and Konata began climbing. Each step elicited a dull thud that echoes off the cement, and between the walls. She was filled with determination in her heart, but her mind was reeling.

Konata felt as if her thought processes were falling apart. The only things she could think of naturally were Kagami and Katahaba. She actually had to force herself in order to think the way she normally did. She swore though, once she found Kagami, and got her out of this place, she was coming back. There was no way she was going to leave Katahaba here even if it meant trekking back through all this again.

She reached the top of the stairwell, and opened the door only to see pitch black in front of. Even shining her flashlight didn't reveal anything, and yet a quick test with her foot confirmed the ground was solid. As she studied the darkness in front of her, more and more apprehension grew. This was familiar somehow. Almost like something she had dreamed once, or lived through a long time ago.

A spec of white could be seen in the distance, and the blue haired girl had played enough video games that she immediately identified it as her goal. It looked like she would have to go through this black in front of her to make it. Her only other choice was to go back to the mannequins, and the Otaku didn't think she would get on this place's good side by doing that. Even though she didn't know why, she could tell this place was leading her somewhere. Why else would it be making such a linear path.

Konata felt like as long as she played along though, she would eventually find her Kagamin, and that was enough to get the little Otaku moving. She switched the flashlight off since it was useless in here, and stepped into the black. The first thing she noticed was how hot it was. Sort of like wrapping up completely in a blanket so that not even your head stuck out. It didn't take long for her to begin sweating all over.

She could feel her robot unicorn t-shirt clinging to her, and was thankful she wasn't in the habit of wearing bras, knowing she would be itching like crazy if she was wearing one right now. Konata couldn't hear anything at all in this place. The dark soaked up any sound she might be making. She couldn't hear her breathing, she couldn't hear her footsteps, and she couldn't hear her own rapid heartbeat even as she felt it hammering away inside of her.

The silence was absolute, and even when she yelled, and began sprinting towards the speck in the distance, she heard nothing. She couldn't make noise if she tried, it almost felt as if she didn't exist anymore. All there was in this place was the darkness. The darkness was everywhere, and it was starting to make her feel sick to her stomach. Konata shuddered, and suppressed a gag as she realized this darkness was _inside_ of her too.

It was flowing in her mouth down her throat, and probably other areas she didn't want to focus on, and it made her sick. Even though she couldn't actually feel anything but the heat, just knowing it was there made her want to empty her gut. She came to a pause as she finally heard something.

"_Kanata...you know I love you right?"_

Her eyes widened, of course she hadn't really heard that. Her ears were clogged with the dark, and she wouldn't be able to hear anything with it violating her body. The darkness flowed in places she promised only Kagami should ever see or feel, and it made her feel filthy. She began walking on, trying to cry, but the dark wouldn't let her squeeze any tears out.

"_No daddy...I'm Konata, mommy was Kanata."_

"Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it," the blue haired girl thought desperately, and futilely as she kept running towards he destination, the speck of light in the distance that was growing ever so slowly as she proceeded. Konata now knew where she was, and why this place was familiar. She had been here a few times, and tried to make herself forget.

She could feel the darkness pressing in on her all over, and wanted to sick up even more.

"_It's okay baby...sometimes when we're alone, we can pretend you're your mommy okay? It would make me really happy."_

She fell to her knees. Konata wanted to scream, and cry, she had moved on from this, so _why_? Why did it hurt so much? This was a monster she was all too familiar with. The monster that haunted her thoughts when she was alone in the darkness.

"_If it makes you happy then it's okay daddy."_

That _thing_ wasn't her dad. Even as a little girl she knew it, but she had had to keep it satisfied or she knew deep down her kind loving father would disappear forever. It had come to her occasionally. She had always felt something wrong with the atmosphere, and knew it was waiting for her, or coming before when she had that sinking feeling in her gut.

She didn't realize until now though, that all of those times she had been here. All of those times she had been here in this darkness while it drooled over her. Thankfully it was never interested in Yu-chan or Yui-chan. It had been her own personal demon that none of them ever knew. Deep down though, she could tell her father always knew about it.

Konata felt a vein pulse in her forehead like Kagami's own habit when she was pissed. After all, it was Kagami who had taught her to not be afraid of it. It was Kagami who had taught her that she wasn't some monster's dirty plaything. It was Kagami who had taught her she was a beautiful person, and Konata had now come to believe that with all her heart.

She exhaled carefully, and felt the darkness leave her body. It had no right to touch her anymore. Konata was mad, almost growling she was so infuriated, so this _thing_ had come from this dark hell. Was it the one that had dragged her and Kagami here, was it angry with them because Kagami had pulled her forever out of its reach?

She said aloud, "So, it's _you_."

The voice pressed in on her mind again, seeking entrance to the body it so craved to have in its grasp.

"_Kanata. I need you."_

Konata shouted back, "I'm not playing your games anymore! I'm free from you, and you can't do anything or me or Kagami!"

"_Kanata...don't you love me? What about our child? We're going to have a baby remember?"_

No, it had never gotten to that point. For all it disgusting urges, this thing had never managed to do more than grope her. Even that made her feel disgusting, but there was no child. Even if she had once wanted desperately to have that baby, she wasn't desperate for love so much anymore that she needed it's seed.

She could always tell that her father, her _real_ father, and not this thing that had been in his skin from time to time had stopped it. It had been too strong for him to hold back completely, but he had done everything to save her from its desires. She would never mistake this thing for her daddy again. She began moving on, feeing the darkness desperately trying to cling to her. Konata kept it at bay, believing she was only for Kagami. Her blind faith in that idea kept it at bay, but it wasn't finished.

"_I'll hurt him."_

Konata stopped, eyes wide. It had never addressed her directly like that before. It was supposed to be a mindless beast. The dark took her momentary weakness, and seized the opportunity to invade her again. Once again it pressed into her throat and ears and nose, but she forced it back, and kept moving on. She had to get out of here.

She didn't want her father being hurt, she loved him even if she couldn't be around him anymore. She recognized it was picking at her though, if it was going to hurt him, it would have done it a long time ago. It would have hurt him when she had run away, but even if it was going to carry through with its threat, she couldn't be stopped.

Konata started walking towards her goal again as it screamed in rage, trying to weaken her mind with images of him feeling her. Trying to break her with threats of death, and pain, but for all its hatred, this monster was weak. Once it had had her completely under its control, but that was before Kagami had taken her away, and made her strong. The old Konata may have broken down at this, but the new one that lived her life alongside Kagami, the Hiiragi family, and all her friends shoved it way by focusing on how she had overcome this monster a long time ago.

* * *

><p>Konata woke up, and immediately knew something was wrong in the house. It was around. She could feel it, which meant that it would be coming here. Almost on cue her bedroom door creaked open, and she saw blue hair, and stubble. It was time again. She hated it. She hated this thing, but she was going to use it. She needed a baby, and she knew she was so disgusting only a monster like this would give her one.<p>

It crept close to her bed, and stood still, watching her. Konata heard a whisper, "Kanata, I've come to see you again. Soon, soon we can be together again, and have the family we dreamed of. Just like you always wanted."

She trembled under her covers, and shed a couple tears into her pillow, refusing to look directly at the thing standing over her bed. It didn't even want her. She was too disgusting for even a monster, but it associated her with the memory of her mother, someone who had actually been worth loving. At least when she had her baby she could run away, when she was pregnant she could finally be done with this nightmare.

It stood over her bed for a few minutes, and then began rubbing her side. Its' hand traced the curve of her hip, and squeezed her butt. Konata kept her eyes as tightly shut as possible, and tried once again to pretend it wasn't happening as the thing felt her all over. She couldn't resist, when she tried to resist it got angry, and when it got angry she wouldn't see her dad for days. It would keep him locked inside while it ogled, and felt her.

It had told her that she was Kanata now, that Kanata was beautiful, and that Konata wasn't even worth being considered a person. Konata wasn't real, she was just a placeholder existence. Some worthless personality that inhabited her body until the next time it could be with its wife.

At some point during the feeling her mind gave up, and she passed out. It wasn't the first time she had forced herself asleep so she didn't have to put up with being made even more dirty. Sometimes she wondered how her friends could stand to be around her, surely even with the mask she put on in front of them, they could see how filthy and defiled she was.

Kagami had suspicions...that Konata knew. It seemed like nobody else even cared about her though. She had given up a long time ago on ever getting away, at least until she had become friends with Kagami. Sure the younger girl had been a jerk when they first met, but once they had become friends she had finally gotten to see the so very well hidden dere-dere that she had suspected was inside the younger girl.

She had seen so much of it actually that it had surprised her. Kagami tried to take care of her. She called to make sure Konata was doing alright. She helped with studies, and invited the Otaku over constantly. If Konata hadn't known better she would have sworn Kagami knew Konata wanted to be away from her home as much as possible.

In the morning Konata woke up to her cell phone ringing on her nightstand. He blearily answered it to hear a cheerful voice on the other end, saying, "Sup?"

Konata smiled, and responded, "Hey Kagamin, what's up?"

The Tsundere answered back, "Nothing much, just checking up on you."

"I'm fine," replied Konata happily, no longer amazed at how easily her mask formed.

"Well, you don't sound fine, so I decided we're going out today!" replied Kagami happily.

Konata chuckled, and responded, "Aren't I the one who usually makes these unplanned trips?"

Kagami replied back, and said, "That just means you owe me, so come over to my house, and we'll figure out what to do from there."

Konata purred back into the phone, "Ohhh~, is Kagamin lonely without me?"

She heard sputtering from the other end, and knew her friend was glowing pink as she responded, "Hey, do you want to hang out or not?"

"Yeah, I'll be there soon," answered Konata.

They hung up after saying goodbye, and Konata grinned. It felt good to grin genuinely. She was going to have a lot of fun with Kagami that day. She threw on a yellow sun dress along with a short pair of shorts to go under it. She grabbed her purse, and a little sun hat hanging in her closet, and headed out immediately, not even wanting to eat breakfast here.

As she went down the stairs into the living room, and headed for the door she noticed her dad sitting on the couch. She almost didn't say anything to him, but he spoke up, and said, "Konata...are you alright?"

She bit her bottom lip at the question, of course she wasn't alright. She looked at her father, and noticed his messed up hair, and dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. That thing had probably been feeling her up until early this morning if he looked so tired. This wasn't that monster though, this was her daddy, and he looked terrible.

For a minute, she wanted to drop everything. Konata wanted to go take care of him, but it was outweighed by her fear of the other one making an appearance. He said, "Would you like me to make you some breakfast Konata?"

She shook her head, and said, "No thanks, I'm going to see Kagami, I'll eat breakfast over there with everyone else."

He smiled, and nodded, asking, "The Hiiragi family...they're good people, right?"

She nodded, and said, "Yeah, they don't mind me coming over anytime."

He was silent at that, and Konata started making her way to the door, wanting out of this awkward situation. As she opened the door he said, "Konata, you know I love you, right?"

She responded, "Yeah dad, I know."

With that she left, and shut the door behind her. It was all she could do to not break down right there. She wasn't sure if her dad knew exactly what went on between them when he blanked out, but she knew he felt horrible about it. She had come to realize over time it wasn't something he could control, and there was no way to predict when it would happen except only when they were alone, and it was dark. The other him was very careful. She wanted to help him, he was always so kind and loving towards her, and yet, because of the other one she had grown uncomfortable around him even when he was normal.

That train ride towards Kagami's house was melancholic to say the least as she was bogged down in her thoughts, but it suddenly turned around for her when the train doors opened, and Kagami was waiting on the platform for her. It was surprising, after all Kagami was supposed to be waiting at her house, but she had come to meet the Otaku.

Kagami greeted her, and the Otaku put on her best cat grin, saying, "Couldn't wait for me to make it to your house, huh?"

Kagami blushed a little, and replied, "Well, I figured you could use some company on your walk over, besides, everybody else is gone, so it's just you and me."

Konata giggled, and replied, "So Kagamin really waslonely."

The younger girl outright denied she had been lonely, and Konata didn't push the issue, she was just glad to have a companion for now. They chatted idly as they walked, Kagami asking about her plans for college since their entrance exams were right around the corner. Konata pretended not to notice how every few seconds Kagami would stare at her with a worried look.

Once they arrived at the Hiiragi's house, Kagami announced loudly, "Alright, since your stomach grumbled like eight times on the way here, I'm going to make you some breakfast."

Konata went blue in the face at the thought, and replied, "No, Kagamin, that really isn't necessary."

The Tsundere didn't miss her face, and replied, "Come on now, I've been practicing, I'm a lot better than before."

Konata shuddered remembering Kagami's batch of cookies she had cooked last time. She had insisted they were so black because they were dark chocolate, and Konata had almost fainted when she took a bite. If Kagami was cooking, she figured she'd better stick to cereal, but the younger girl was insisting on it.

The Otaku sighed, and said, "Fine, but how about we make it together. That way we'll be cooking for each other. "

They both blushed lightly at the idea, but Kagami accepted it, and the two got to work in the kitchen. It wasn't long before the whole house was smelling nice as Konata whipped up pancakes, and Kagami fetched her everything she needed. As she flipped the final pancake onto a plate, and switched the stove off, Konata saw Kagami looking at her.

She felt embarrassed at that look. Kagami's eyes lingered on Konata's hair which was poking out in places after cooking, and her face was slightly flushed from the heat. She watched Kagami's eyes travel down to her chest, and blushed a bit, then they went further down to her hips, even though their light curve was obscured by the dress. It wasn't the first time Kagami had looked at her like that.

If Kagami wanted to look at her though, it was fine. After all, she dealt with much worse than being ogled. So if Kagami wanted to see her as an object too then she wouldn't fuss about it. At least Kagami would be nice to her while staring. At least Kagami would call her by her name. Then she was being held.

Konata didn't know when it had happened, but Kagami was hugging the smaller girl into her chest as she trembled in Kagami's arms, biting her bottom lip to stop from whining. Even now tears didn't come though, she knew she didn't deserve to cry, not if she wasn't worth having her own name, not if she couldn't help her daddy. She didn't deserve to be treated nicely if she was going to ruin hanging out with her best friend like this.

"I'm sorry Kagamin..." whispered Konata.

The bigger girl held her close, and asked worriedly, "What's the matter with you Konata, something has been really wrong for a long time now. Why don't you tell me about it? I told you I'm always here to listen."

Konata said quietly, "For a minute I thought of you as the same. I thought you were looking at me like _he_ looks at me."

Kagami's grip tightened, and she responded, "He? You mean your boyfriend? The one you're going to have a baby with eventually?"

Konata nodded into Kagami's breasts, their softness did make her feel a bit better. Her inner Otaku flared for a moment as she considered copping a feel, but she squashed that thought lest she invoke Kagami's rage. Instead she decided to be honest, and said, "I know you're better though. You would never look at me like an object, right?"

Kagami's face turned red at the question, and Konata was pretty sure that Kagami had had some perverted thoughts about the Otaku's body. After all they were very close, and even though Konata would never allow herself to believe she could deserve Kagami, sometimes when she closed her eyes while that thing was touching her, she had imagined it was Kagami. She still never responded to its touches, but imagining it was her best friend helped her sleep, helped her pretend it was just a bad dream, and soon enough she'd wake up with her baby and run away.

If she was lucky, then maybe Kagami would come with her. Then Kagami responded, "Of course I wouldn't Konata."

Konata felt horrible. She always used Kagami as her outlet, although it had never been this bad before. She usually felt better after a little teasing, and fun, but now she needed to be close to Kagami, and it wasn't fair. Kagami liked her, and Konata knew it. She had seen Kagami staring at her, and fidgeting when they got close. More and more they got closer and closer. Lately they did almost everything together. They ate, slept, and played together almost every day. A couple times they had even held hands.

Konata felt sick though, she knew she was just using Kagami. It wasn't like they cold actually be together. The Otaku just kept playing along so she could feel like Konata was a person worth being. Maybe if she kept being Konata with Kagami, it wouldn't hurt so much to be Kanata at home. Kagami was always there for her. Konata just kept taking and taking, and never giving back. Konata was amazed the Tsundere hadn't grown tired of it yet, and moved on.

Lately though, the more time she spent with Kagami, the more her mask cracked. She had tried so hard to keep how she felt hidden from the world that never cared about her, but now it had all built up so much that she was breaking. She wanted to tell Kagami everything, she wanted it to all be over with, but she had to stay strong at least until she was pregnant. She could do at least one thing worthwhile with her life. If she could have a baby, then she'd finally have a reason to move on. Something she could give all her love to.

If she had a reason to keep going, then Konata could be a person too.

* * *

><p>Konata pressed on towards the light in the distance, it was noticeably closer now. The creature's mental attacks had strengthened as she reflected on the worst parts of her memories, but they wouldn't be able to break her no matter how much they hurt her. After all Konata knew on the other side of that light, Kagami could be there, needing her help. She could never make up to Kagami what the Tsundere had done for her. Her lover had given her a chance at actually living. Kagami had pulled her out of the days where she had separated herself into three people, Konata, Kanata, and the nameless one. The girl she was who decided which of those masks to wear. The girl who was empty inside.<p>

The girl who wanted more than anything to disappear to where nobody could ever find her again. Kagami had made her into a real person though. Kagami had shattered her masks, and shown her life could be worth living. She used to want to be a mother in order to have something she could love. She wanted to love something with all her heart like her daddy had told her that her own mother did. At least that's what she told herself, really if she could focus her entire being into feeling one emotion, she could forget everything else.

She had chosen a baby. Since she was a little girl, that's what the other dad had told her they would have. As a child, she hadn't fully realized how evil the creature was. She had grown up hearing all the wonderful things about her mother from her good daddy, and had wanted to be her mother when her evil daddy had started calling her by that name.

She had known her mommy had been a great person, and she always hoped she could be that great too. It had seemed so natural as a child. Konata had come to resent it though, being Kanata meant she lived Kanata's life, that she dreamed Kanata's dreams. It wasn't long before Konata had stopped being a real person. It wasn't long before she stopped having a life and dreams of her own.

A particularly fierce attempt by the darkness made her slow her pace as she remembered the first time her good daddy had been locked away for a week. She had learned not to anger the evil one very quickly after that. Still, she recovered, and strengthened her pace, determined to make it out into the light at the end.

"_You're alone. No one will ever love you. You're a worthless shell, and your only useful purpose would be as my wife!"_

Konata wouldn't break, this darkness would never break her again like when she was a child. She was a person now, a strong person, and she would make it through here, and save Kagami no matter what she had to go through. After thinking that thought, a small area around her illuminated, showing her the stone floor she was walking on. She could finally hear her breathing, and was no longer in that all oppressing silence.

Konata wasn't alone, she had people she cared for with all her heart. Not just Kagami. She had Yu-chan, and Yui, and Nanako. As well as all her Onee-chans Matsuri and Inori both of whom she loved. Then Tsukasa and Miyuki, the only people in the world who was as important to her as Kagami was. It kept on though, shouting about how they were all gone, left her to the dark. She was almost tempted to listen to it. Konata was feeling lonely, she was trapped in the dark with her own personal demon for company.

For just a minute the light seemed to dim around her, and then she remembered what Katahaba said. It didn't matter how strong this place was. It didn't matter how much she hurt, because in the end, she believed she would be strong enough to make it to Kagami. If she couldn't do it on her own then Kagami, and everyone else would help her.

Katahaba was important.

Her head pounded as she thought she remembered him for just a second. A brief flash, and she had known everything about him, and then it was gone. Her legs wobbled from the force of the memories, and she collapsed down to her hands and knees with her little pool of light shrinking. Then she heard the footsteps on her left.

Konata looked over to the edge of her tiny pool of light, not so different from the one they had been inside in the theater with her phone. Standing there was a little boy. His height wasn't even up to her chest standing. He was skinny and pale, wearing some torn baggy khaki shorts, and a worn out white t shirt. He was so _skinny _though. His arms were twigs and his clothes hung off him. The Otaku had no doubt if she lifted up his shirt, she would see his ribs clearly. He looked like he had been starved for weeks.

Konata almost started away from him, but something just seemed so familiar about him. For a few moments she couldn't hear that attacking voice pressing into her mind at all. She crawled over to the little boy, hugging his scared, tiny form, and asked him, already knowing his answer, "Who are you, are you okay baby?"

He didn't react to her hug at all, keeping his arms at his sides. He just said quietly, "My name's Jacob, I'm lost."

His tone held no emotion, the boy was just a shell. Not so different from how she had been before. Konata felt a vein in her forehead again as this place seemed determined to throw her into a rage, and she hugged the boy tighter saying, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here."

* * *

><p>Author's note: Editing is not entirely done on this chapter, but I had a good time typing it up. I'm getting to the more serious aspects of the story now, and I personally feel as I'm typing that it's flowing a bit better than at the beginning when i wasn't entirely sure what i wanted out of this story. I'll have part 2 out as soon as possible, but it'll most likely take around a month as Christmas is coming up, and I'm not going to have any spare time from work until the holiday rush is over.<p>

Hope you guys enjoy reading this, and feel free to critique your heart out, it always helps me to develop my writing further, so I anxiously await the next time I hear from you all.


	12. Resonance Part II

Chapter 12 – Resonance Part II

Konata felt the boy's warmth flowing into her body as she held him close. It was bad enough this monster tried to drag her back to the times when it had tormented her, but involving another innocent child made her want to rage. If she could discern a physical form to the thing, she would have loved to plunge her knife into it.

The boy himself though was impassive. He hadn't responded to her hug, and had answered her questions like a machine. Konata was unnerved hearing that tone again. It had been so long since she herself had heard it, but before it had come from her. A tone she had used to hide the pain, and she had actually believed she was hiding it. Hearing it now, it was no wonder Kagami had seen through her act.

The Otaku cast a glance back in the direction she had been heading, and eyed the bit of light she had been moving towards for god knew how long. She had made progress, but couldn't tell how much longer before she was out of this black. Her hand moved down to the young boy's hand, and tightened around it.

Konata stood up, and patted him on the head, trying her best to reassure him, but she had never taken care of a kid before, and had no idea how to go about it. She started walking, and his steps matched hers without any protest.

"_I'll hurt him."_

Konata bit her lip at that voice. Still threatening, it wouldn't get to her though, and she wouldn't let it get to this kid. She wondered if he could hear the same things she was hearing, or if he had his own personal hell to go alongside hers. Konata looked down at his shaggy brown hair. It was greasy, and matted with sweat like her own, but his was unkempt from a while without treatment, and his bangs hung down by his eyes.

Konata wondered if he had been there for very long, by his looks he could have even been there for longer than she had herself. His stomach rumbled audibly, and Konata tried not to hear it. It made her feel even worse. She didn't have any food to give him, actually she wasn't even sure if she could protect him. So far she had only survived the monsters thanks to Katahaba, and Kagami, but now it wasn't just her on the line here, this kid needed her too.

"It wants us."

Konata started at the boy's unexpected comment. She tightened her grip on his hand, and said, "Don't worry, we'll get out of here, and I'll try to get you home, okay?"

Jacob shook his head, and said, "I can't go home yet. It's inside me. I can't bring it there."

_It_? The thing all around them? Konata pondered that, and remembered the dark forcing its way into her body, surely it would have done the same to this boy. The Otaku worried his state might worsen soon. She remembered what it was like to carry that darkness inside of herself. To feel less than human, but she also knew now that no matter how deep the darkness inside you was, you could always overcome it if you had the right reason to do so.

She asked him, "Jacob...how are you feeling?"

He grunted a response, and she continued, "You're not having any bad thoughts are you?"

"Are you?" he responded.

Despite her worry, she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at the kid. Of course she was having bad thoughts in this place, anybody would. Then Konata facepalmed. He had probably been thinking along similar lines when she had asked the question. Despite the situation, she chuckled. Konata wasn't usually ditsy like this unless Kagami was around.

"_You can't save him. You chose to save yourself instead."_

Konata's head flared in pain, and their light flickered out. Immediately the darkness returned, trying to force itself back into her. Kona felt Jacob's hand tighten in her own. The darkness writhed against her, even if it couldn't enter her anymore, and she pulled Jacob in close. Konata was surprised by how calm the kid was. He didn't scream, or try and run off into the dark, he just stood there quivering in her arms.

The only reaction he had had to the darkness was to grip her hand a little tighter. The only thing Konata could gather from his reaction was that he was used to this occurrence. That realization irked Konata more than a little. This sick darkness seemed to have a fondness for terrorizing the weak and helpless. Konata whispered into the boy's ear, "Are you alright?"

He nodded into her chest, and the Otaku was reassured by it. At least the kid didn't seem as fragile as she had at his age. Still she muttered into the dark, "I _won't_ let you hurt him."

The darkness recoiled from them, bringing back that small pool of illumination they had had before. Jacob was looking up at her, and said quietly, "You're strong. Almost strong like James."

Katahaba had mentioned finding someone named James after they had fought those dog monsters earlier. She had assumed James was his big brother who he had been looking for, but apparently this kid knew James as well. Maybe he was their little brother or something. The Otaku knew that wasn't the case as soon as she thought it. There was no way Katahaba would be out chasing after James while a little kid needed saving.

Konata motioned to him to keep going, and said, "Let's focus on getting out of here. Once we get out of this place we can worry about finding somewhere safe, but we can't just stay here."

Jacob nodded and she started leading him on to the speck of light in the distance, which was now a small hole of light on the horizon. Judging by its growth, Konata would say they were around halfway there. Just a little while longer, and she and Jacob would be free of this darkness. Of course, she thought, even if she escaped this place, even if she made it home with Kagami, after all that had happened to her here, Konata knew she wouldn't be able to pretend that the darkness wasn't out in their world as well.

She knew this darkness was inside her dad, but she still didn't know if she would ever be able to do anything for him. Konata looked at the small boy tagging along beside her hand in hand, and reflected on how powerless she really was. So far she had only ever been strong enough to save herself. When she had been in the depths of despair, she had only been strong enough to grab onto Kagami, and be pulled out. When the monsters had attacked, she had relied on Katahaba's strength to keep him safe, and she had only watched out for herself.

If she had had to protect Katahaba, Kona imagined she would be ground up on the floor back where they had fought those dogs. If she had never met Katahaba, then she and Kagami would probably still be huddled together in the darkness of that theater. Too scared to leave that break room after their first encounter with the creatures of this world. If she had never been given his flashlight, then that big lizard would have torn her apart.

It seemed like none of her accomplishments in this world had been on her own power. Now though, she had to fight. Giving up simply wasn't an option while Jacob was on the line here. He was just a little kid, there was no way he'd have a chance against the creatures of this place, and she wasn't even sure if she would be able to protect him.

Konata had gone all the way up to red belt in her Karate lessons, and she had learned to fight very well compared to an average person, but there was nothing average about this place., and it took more than knowing how to fight here to survive. Not to mention trying to fight some of these monsters close in was suicide.

Kona could feel the darkness here. Even if it wasn't touching her. She could feel it pushing, and pulsing against their little pool of light. Searching for a crack to slip into, and attack while their defenses were weak. Konata was startled by a sudden voice saying, "How do you keep it out?"

Konata looked back down to Jacob as she walked, and for the first time realized she was doing something that seemed impossible. She was forcing back the dark with her sheer willpower. Her blind belief that this darkness was beneath her now, and could no longer touch her. For the first time since she came to this place, Konata felt like she was in control. Sure this place was dark, and dangerous, and attacked her any chance it got, but this was a darkness she had beaten before.

While she worried about the whole world outside this place, this darkness at least could not beat her. It may hurt her, it may make her cry, but it had no power to break her. Konata answered, "I've been here before. I beat it with my girlfriend's help. This place isn't dangerous to me anymore."

Jacob nodded, and said, "I'm not strong enough to do something like that. I can do other things though."

Konata arched her eyebrow at his declaration. At least he seemed to be coming out of his shell state some, he had actually had a hint of excitement in his voice when he had proclaimed some sort of ability on his part. Almost like he wanted to brag about it to her. She decided to take his bait with the slightest hint of a smile, replying, "Oh? What kinds of things can you do?"

He actually smiled a little at her interest in him, and said, "I'm super tough! I'm not strong like James and Johnson and Creed and you, but I decided I'd be really tough so that James and Creed wouldn't always have to come save me."

His chest seemed to swell out a little as he spoke, obviously proud of his accomplishment. Kona felt some nostalgia at this conversation. Almost like she had had it once before with somebody else. Then the words themselves sunk in, and her mind snatched at key details, the main one being Johnson. This place had already made a point of pointing Johnson out to her, and now a little boy who knew him somehow appeared.

She responded, "Hey Jacob, how do you know Johnson? Isn't he really old?"

Jacob's face darkened at her question, and she was afraid he would go back to his dull emotionless tone. After a few seconds though, he replied hesitantly, "You're...you're not a member of the Order are you?"

Konata had no idea what the order was, so she outright denied it, and Jacob seemed pleased with this. He continued on saying, "Yeah, Johnson is super old. Like probably thirty or something."

Konata almost cried at the kid thinking thirty was super old. She was closing in on that all too quickly herself. Then again she should have figured on a kid not really having a good grasp of time. Being twenty probably seemed like it was something impossible to achieve in his mind. Jacob didn't stop there though, he said, "Johnson is in charge of Wish House, and the tower, and a lot of the Order. He raised all of us, and taught us how we can show our faith."

"Show your faith?" asked Konata, thinking that sounded particularly odd.

Jacob nodded, and said, "The rituals. We all have to complete different rituals, and only the faithful children get to come back to Wish House."

Konata's stomach sunk, even in this hell she had a hard time believing what she was hearing. Even with her own demon trying to claw its way back into that vulnerable part of her mind, she couldn't actually bring herself to believe someone might do what Jacob was implying. Konata had ask, "Jacob, what about the children who don't come back? Where are they?"

Jacob shook his head, and said, "We each go through one ritual. Johnson needs one person to complete each, and then we can use our faith to resurrect our mother. I was sent to the Ritual of Vessel. The other children who came with me..."

Jacob's hand was trembling in her own. Konata squeezed it tightly, and said, "You don't have to say anything to me Jacob. If it hurts you don't have to do it."

Konata looked down at his mop of hair, and he looked back up at her, and smiled. He said, "Not talking about it won't take it back. We were all put in the hole, we all went to the deepest darkest part of the dark, and I was the only one who came back. I'm the only one of us from Wish House that ever came back from there."

Konata felt herself trembling now. Imagining him in the darkest shadows this place had to offer. She herself was barely coping with this world, and somehow a child had made it out of the worst area. Konata didn't want to imagine what had happened to all of the other children in that place, or what Jacob had had to do in order to come out alive.

_They have all left you. In the end I'm the only one who would ever want you!_

The Otaku grimaced, and then smiled down at Jacob saying, "Well, you don't have to worry anymore. I'm going to take you out of here."

Jacob looked at her oddly for a moment before suddenly becoming very interested in looking at his feet. Konata had seen a little blush on his face for just a moment before he had looked away. Then she felt herself grinning. Kona just couldn't help it. Even with that savage darkness beating at her shield of illumination, and trying to force its way inside her, Konata grinned. She had believed completely that even here she wasn't alone, and now she even had a new person here with her.

Konata promised herself, even if she wasn't strong enough to fight like Katahaba did, she would protect this little boy. She would make sure he got out of here, or she would die trying. The Otaku looked away from Jacob, checking their distance to the speck of light, which was now much closer. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized how much easier this was for her with someone to help support her.

Sure, her back and shoulder hurt like crazy from walking, and fighting with not enough rest, sure she had had to relive some of her most painful memories, and they were still playing in her mind over and over. Her body was overcome with a weak feeling of overexertion, her stomach hurt, and each step seemed an effort with Konata's weariness growing as time passed on. Even with all that though, Konata wouldn't stop.

Kona knew she still needed to find and save Kagami, she needed to protect Jacob. She needed to find Katahaba, and make sure he got out of here too. Her to do list in this place was steadily growing, it seemed as if her own escape would have to wait for a while yet. For now though, she needed to force her way through this rest of this darkness, and it seemed the only way to really progress was to beat it all over again, so Konata steeled herself for the darkest parts of her memories would undoubtedly surface before she made her way out of here.

Before she resumed her memories of this darkness in a life that seemed an eternity ago when she was a different person, she gripped Jacob's hand tightly, and whispered, "I'm going to take care of you."

* * *

><p>Konata snuggled in tightly to the warmth all around her. She could feel soft blankets above her, and something softer and warmer beneath. She rubbed her head against the warmer object seeking a more comfortable position. The blue haired girl finally found it between the two especially soft objects below her, and quickly began to snore contentedly. A few minutes later the Otaku was roused only slightly from her slumber as she felt herself being wrapped up tightly by something, and rocked gently. A few minutes after that she felt something warm, and slightly damp on her forehead, and she grumbled as it threatened to bring her out of her state of semi-consciousness.<p>

It was much much later that she fully awoke to realize the object giving her this warmth and comfort was Kagami. The younger girl by now had drifted off to sleep herself, and Konata could feel her stomach fluttering as she stared up at Kagami's face, and realized the position they were in. Kona couldn't bring herself to move, and wake Kagami up. The lavender haired girl was fast asleep holding Konata close to her, with the Tsundere's arms wrapped around Konata's lower back.

Konata herself found her face nestled between Kagami's breasts. Her arms were reached up above her, holding on to Kagami's shoulders. Konata took in the sight of her best friend. Her Kagamin. The person who was always there for her when she needed it. A small lock of lavender hair obscured Kagami's right eye, and Konata watched it shift as the younger girl breathed for a little while.

Konata thought to herself, "She's beautiful."

Kona believed it. She had come to learn that Kagami was a very beautiful person. It wasn't just the way she looked either. It was present in everything the Tsundere was a part of. The way her smile always cheered Konata up, or even her constant fretting that Konata wasn't living up to her potential. Kagami could be relied upon to be beautiful as surely as the sun would come up in the morning. It made the blue haired girl sick to her stomach.

Konata could admit it. Sometimes she was jealous of her best friend. She always got to be with her family, and everyone loved her so much even without the younger girl asking them to. It seemed like Kagami never even had to try to make everyone love her. The sickness didn't come from her jealousy though. She loved Kagami just as much as everyone else, maybe even more.

What made Kona sick to the point she wanted to retch when she lingered on it was that she was using Kagami. This beautiful person who would go to any lengths just to make her happy, and Konata was using her. Konata knew she was hurting her friend. She was taking advantage of the fact that Kagami would never turn her away. Every moment Konata was able, she would try and keep Kagami's attention focused on her.

She was just doing it so that she wouldn't have to deal with how she really felt. That _Thing's_ fits were becoming increasingly frequent, it had told her she _would_ become her mother. In two weeks Konata would be the same age Kanata had been when she became pregnant. As she looked up at Kagami, her thoughts turned one last time towards escaping _it._

Maybe she could do it. Maybe she could become a real person, and try and forget about her past. Then she was torn. Despite her hatred of the thing in her father's skin, she really did want to be a mother. If she left now, after all the enduring it over the years, she knew she would never bear a child. As dirty and defiled as she was, nobody would ever want to be close enough to her to give her a child.

Even if she tried to adopt, Konata knew they wouldn't let her have a a baby after they saw the pathetic thing she really was. After all, Konata wasn't really a person. Konata was just a mask. The Otaku sighed, and reached behind her, gently undoing Kagami's grasp on her back, and slid quietly out of bed, not waking the younger girl. The urge to sick up slowly faded as she stood beside the bed watching Kagami.

Kona took a step away from the bed, thinking if she left now, then maybe she wouldn't end up hurting Kagami as much. Kagami would be mad at her, and hate her for leaving, but then she wouldn't waste her time trying to help that thing called Konata. She took another step, and turned away from Kagami. She dressed silently in the dark, and heaved a sigh as she closed the door to Kagami's room.

A few moments later she was creeping down the stairs headed to the front door, and with each step her unease grew. Konata knew she was leaving it behind. Her last chance at finally being free, but it was too hard for her to stop. To give up now after all the years being toyed with by that thing, to seek shelter here with Kagami, and render all those horrible hours being fondled and groped meaningless was something Konata didn't have the strength to do on her own.

Her stomach knotted, and her hands shook as she reached the bottom landing of the stairs with only the dim glow of an overhead stove light emanating from the kitchen giving off any sort of illumination. Eying the door, the Otaku sighed, and stepped towards it, trying to get herself under control. Another three steps, and she could stop being a burden to the people of this home.

**Step.**

_Kagamin...help._

**Step.**

_I can't do it by myself._

**Ste-**

Konata felt two hands gripping her shoulders as she reached for the doorknob. It was all she could do to turn her reactive yell into a startled gasp, before she tilted her head back to see who had stopped her. Kona's stomach tightened even more as her nervousness racked her while she tried to make out the form of the girl standing over her.

In the end it was too dark to see her, but Kona recognized her voice easily enough when she said cheerily, "What's the matter? You and Kagami have a fight?"

It was Matsuri stopping her from leaving. A part of Konata was hoping she'd find Kagami herself refusing to let Konata leave, but this was enough. This was more than enough. Konata let go of the doorknob, and sighed, almost leaking a few tears. She was wanted here. Enough that even Kagami's big sister would get up in the middle of the night, and make sure she was okay.

The only real question in her mind was whether or not they wanted _her_, or if they wanted the girl she had pretended to be.

* * *

><p>Konata panted heavily, and wiped the sweat from her forehead as she trudged onwards towards the light. She still gripped Jacob's hand tightly as he walked beside her panting and sweating as well. It wasn't the walking so much that was wearing her out, it was the constant attacks, the voice whispering in her mind of how everyone left her here.<p>

Konata had beaten the voice before, but in this place its attack never ceased. It wore on her, and the longer it kept up its assault, the more her defense buckled. Her hand was slippery, and Jacob kept adjusting his grip on it as they trudged on with their little light. Kona squeezed his hand, and asked, "You doing alright, kid?"

He nodded in response, and replied, "It's tough, but I'll live."

That response struck her as a little odd, but she responded, "Well, don't worry. If you're really lost, all you need is someone to help you find yourself again."

Konata smiled sweetly as she said it, forcing the gesture, and hoping it comforted him. If she, a grown woman was becoming exhausted by the relentless assault on her mind, she could only imagine how tired a kid like Jacob was feeling right now. Konata could feel the dark just outside their light, pressing in. Almost like the light were some kind of extension of herself, and moving it forward against the constant pressure was tiring her out quickly.

The Otaku steeled her resolve, and pushed forward though, knowing if she gave in to the weariness, if she let herself be beaten, and collapsed here in the dark, she would never find her way out of it again. Maybe if it was just her, she wouldn't have been strong enough to keep going, but as long as Jacob was here, and needed someone to look out for him, and Kagami was waiting to be found so that they could finally escape this place, there was no way Konata would let herself give up.

Even if her limbs turned to lead, and her breath came in hot ragged gasps, she would never quit moving forward. On her own, she wasn't strong, and she knew it, but with Kagami on the line, and knowing how awful everyone would feel if they never came back, Konata knew she could summon any strength she needed.

* * *

><p>"No...nothing like that," responded Konata in answer to Matsuri's question.<p>

The brunette turned her around, and said, "You don't have to leave if something is wrong. You know that right? Even if you're not here to stay the night with Kagami, you can just hang out with me, Tsukasa or Inori."

Konata gulped, she really couldn't explain to Matsuri what had been going through her head, but the older girl didn't even seem interested in asking about it, more concerned with wrapping an arm around Konata's shoulder, and leading her back towards the stairs while talking in her normal volume of voice. Almost like she didn't particularly care if people were sleeping all around them.

Matsuri was as forceful as Kagami was, and the older girl reminded her of the Tsundere in a lot of ways, but one thing about Matsuri was that she wasn't as prone to worry about appearances or manners as Kagami was. So basically all of the force, and none of the tact, and yet the Otaku couldn't help but like her. Kona was well aware of how much Kagami looked up to her two older sisters, and tried to model herself somewhat after their examples. Just that was enough reason for her to like Matsuri and Inori.

Then there were the times Kagami had confided she wished she was as mature as her older sisters were sometimes. Even though the Tsundere often spoke of all the arguments she got into with her sisters, Konata had never heard her speak of her Onee-chans without a certain degree of respect. Konata smiled to herself as she let herself be led away.

The smaller girl was really glad somebody had stopped her. If she had left, she doubted that she would have ever bothered leaving her home again. That realization made her shudder. Konata was aware that she was slowly breaking, not even under the strain of what was happening to her at her home, but more under the strain of not telling anyone.

A part of her knew she could tell the Hiiragi's her situation and end it, but if she did that now then all her suffering would be for nothing. If she stuck it out just a little longer she would finally have something to show for it, and finally have something that could make her worthless life important. The Otaku knew she was nothing by herself, but once she had her baby she would finally be important. She would finally be needed by someone who needed her to be _her._

They began walking up the stairs, and Konata felt Matsuri's arm on her shoulder pull her a little closer as they walked up. The older girl said, "Don't worry so much if Kagami's being a jerk or something, we'll totally get her back."

Konata grinned picturing the mischief Matsuri caused regularly with Kagami as the target. Kona could admit to seeing the greatness of causing mischief for Kagami. She herself did it regularly enough, and if she teamed up with Matsuri of all people, then the two people who were best at pushing Kagami's buttons in the entire world would be geared up for some serious awesomeness. The Otaku's grin actually turned into a smile at the thought, and she heard Matsuri chuckle in the dark as they reached the older girl's bedroom door.

Matsuri opened the door allowing the dim light from her desk lamp to spill out into the hallway, and she said, "I thought you might like the sound of that, we'll totally get her good tomorrow."

Konata allowed herself to be led into Matsuri's room, and the older girl closed the door behind them, and led Konata over to her bed where she sat them down with her arm still around Konata's shoulder, saying, "So, you want to talk about it?"

Konata leaned her head against Matsuri's shoulder, feeling comforted by the older girl's demeanor, and mumbled "Not really. There's too much going on to just sit and talk about."

"Is it that boyfriend of yours?" Matsuri asked with a dark tone, obviously displeased.

Konata looked at her with mild surprise written across her features, and Matsuri elaborated, "You should be aware. There are no secrets between me and Kagami. She tells me everything because she trusts me, even stuff about you."

Konata shivered despite the older girl's warmth wondering how many of Konata's secrets Matsuri really knew. She responded, "Still, I didn't think she'd tell anyone about my relationship."

Matsuri snorted in amusement, "Please. She wouldn't have even had to say anything for us to notice something up with you. It's gotten sour between you and your boyfriend, right?'

Konata thought for a moment, and answered quietly, "You could say that I guess..."

The Otaku trailed off, and Matsuri looked at her disapprovingly before saying, "If you're that miserable, then leave him then. There's no point in you suffering and dragging it out for some asshole, especially when you have someone else who would actually take care of you, someone who could really make you happy like you used to be."

Kona let Matsuri's words sink in. It seemed as if even the blunt Hiiragi sister was pulling for Konata to spend more time with Kagami. Konata felt hope for the first time in a long time. Maybe she really could just not go back home. Maybe this could be her life. A life where Matsuri mentored her and Kagami loved her. Konata could almost hear the crack as her mask broke a little more as Matsuri squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

The Otaku mused to herself, it was no wonder Kagami loved her older sister so much. Then the voice, the god awful voice spoke up.

_You're mine. My lovely wife, you're the only one who could ever make me happy._

Konata pushed the voice as far back into her mind as possible. This was her safe place, with the Hiiragi's it couldn't control her here. In this place she could be her. Konata spoke up miserably, "What if I wanted to? What if I really wanted to leave him, and he wouldn't let me?"

Matsuri looked at her with very serious eyes. Konata could tell that for the first time Matsuri was thinking that this might not be the usual girlfriend boyfriend drama. Konata could almost feel the anger radiating off the older girl, and noticed the vein appearing in her forehead, the same one Kagami always had when angered sufficiently.

The brunette responded, "Konata, you can always leave. Even if he's really a seriously scary dude, we've got your back."

Konata was about to rebut about how she didn't think there was anything they could do about him, especially when he was already inside her head, but she felt a finger on her lips, stopping her from uttering a noise as Matsuri spoke up, "Hey! I know people! Badass people! I got connections, totally real connections that existed before right now!"

Despite everything Konata's lips raised up in a smile, and seeing that Matsuri's mimicked hers. The older girl surprised Konata by hugging her tightly, and for the first time in a really long time Konata felt safe. In Matsuri's arms she wasn't Kanata, the woman who had left her all alone, and the object of desire for the thing that pretended to be her dad, but somebody who mattered.

Konata trembled as she considered spilling everything to Matsuri, but was stopped by a single thought.

_It'd be a shame to ruin their lives over something like this._

It was _him_, he was there always in the part of her mind he had tainted. No matter how safe she felt, she couldn't get away. Matsuri seemed to notice the shadow over her mood, and released Kona with a mischievous grin and sparkles in her eyes. Konata recognized that look, and knew Kagami always regretted seeing it, so she could only imagine what was going to happen if it was directed at her. Matsuri chuckled, and said, "If you're determined to not be happy even with me and Kagami going to these extra efforts Kona-chan...then I have no choice, but to teach you how to enjoy yourself all over again."

The Otaku knew her mind was playing tricks on her, but a dark aura seemed to surround the room along with Matsuri's evident pranking intentions. Konata shrunk back as Matsuri announced, "Lesson 1."

The brunette suddenly removed her shirt, revealing her breasts to the younger girl's immense confusion, and slight anger at how much bigger hers were than Konata's. Konata tried to stutter a protest by saying, "Matsuri, I-I'm not really into y-"

Konata's protest was immediately cut off by Matsuri pulling her into a bone crushing hug that smothered her face between the older girl's breasts. Konata only had a second to contemplate how they were soft and bigger around than Kagami's before Matsuri cheerfully announced, "Matsuri-nee's Life Lesson 1! Boobs. Are. Awesome. Simple as that because no matter how bad you feel, boobs will always make you feel better. I don't know why, but it's simple fact."

Konata felt her eye twitch at the older girl's immaturity, but couldn't help but giggle, and respond, "Yeah, maybe if you have big ones like yours, but someone like me can't really smother anyone with joy."

Matsuri chuckled in response, "Fufufu...Konata, how little you actually know. I didn't say big boobs are are awesome, I said boobs period. No need to feel bad because yours are smaller, I guarantee it. You plant someone's face in them, and they'll be happy no matter what else is going on."

Konata couldn't help but laugh in response as the older girl fell over still holding her close as they lay on the bed. She could feel Matsuri stroking her hair, and she could admit to herself, that the older girl had completely managed to relax her despite the odd situation she had found herself in. Was this the power of an older sister? No wonder there was so much older sister genre manga available.

Matsuri sighed contentedly, and Konata had the brunette's breasts swell back up into her face with the action before she was free to breathe again. Konata said quietly, "You know, you've cheered me up, you can put your shirt back on now."

She got a laugh in response, and the older girl responded, "No, I always sleep like this, I just put on the shirt when I left my room because Dad throws a fit when I walk around topless and he sees me."

Konata grinned, and responded, "You're kinda weird."

Matsuri just held on to her, and Konata felt happy relaxing against her, especially when she pictured how jealous Kagami would be if she walked in on the scene. It wasn't like there was any sort of attraction between her and Matsuri, but Konata knew Kagami would explode for not being the one in Matsuri's position.

Matsuri interrupted Kona's thoughts by saying softly, "You know, me and Kagami used to sleep like this all the time when we were younger."

That piqued Konata's interest since Kagami hardly ever spoke about her childhood since she had told that embarrassing "Bread Factory" story to Misakichi, and it had been known to everyone the next day. Konata, however, didn't doubt it at all since she could now see how comforting this would have been to a smaller Kagami since it was this comforting to Konata now as a nearly grown woman.

Matsuri continued, "Yep, she was so cute back then. Always pretty much attached to my ankles."

The Otaku chuckled, picturing a chibi Kagami hanging off her older sister, and it took all her effort not to squeal at the cuteness. There was something in Matsuri's tone though, it seemed almost longing. The older girl spoke again, saying, "You know, when she was like five, she even had a crush on me. It was super adorable the way she ran around telling everyone, 'When I grow up, I'm going to marry Matsuri-nee.' She even cried when Mom explained to her that two women can't get married to each other, and even further sisters. Most kids would have just given up when they were told it was against the law, but Kagami's too stubborn for something like that, she said she'd change the law if she had to. My little sis has grown up a lot since then, she's moved on to other crushes, and she's nowhere near as adorable as she used to be, but you know she's still dedicated to changing that law?"

Konata's eyes widened in realization as to how Kagami's pursuit of a law career got started. Undoubtedly she had a different reason for continuing than to get one law changed now that she was older and more mature. Konata was touched she was allowed to know such a personal detail about her best friend. Matsuri really trusted her a lot if she was willing to talk so freely. Her bottom lip trembled once more as she thought about how she was using Kagami.

The brunette picked up on her feeling, and tightened her grip on the Otaku, not saying anything, but allowing the younger girl to become comfortable in her presence. It seemed almost unreal to Kona that the usually lackadaisical Hiiragi was capable of being so mature. Konata could easily see why Kagami sometimes wanted to be more like Matsuri.

Neither of them said anything else as Konata rested against Matsuri, and before long Konata was falling asleep. Matsuri seemed to think the Otaku was already sleeping because she quietly whispered to herself, "Please don't hurt my baby sister Konata. I don't want to have to hate you."

* * *

><p>Konata's knees buckled, and she started to fall, finally giving a little under the pressure of the endless dark trying to claw its way into their safe haven. Before she hit the ground though, she was stopped by a hard object beneath her. Konata tilted her head to find herself held up on Jacob's shoulder as he grimaced with the effort of keeping both of them up.<p>

The Otaku felt weak. She was shaky, and sweating buckets from the heat, and the effort of pushing against the dark. Her body screamed in protest even just moving her legs alongside Jacob's as she fought to not be broken. The boy holding her up, he was so small and skinny, he looked just as worn out as her, and yet he never missed a step despite occasionally grunting while shifting her weight to a more easily supported angle.

Konata could hardly believe this twig of a boy was holding both of them up despite sweating enough it was staining his baggy shirt. Konata weakly muttered, "Jacob...I'm sorry for being weak."

He grunted, and after a moment said quietly, "You're not weak. You're strong like Johnson and james. We just all have things we can't do."

Konata smiled, glad he wasn't angry, and said, "You're pretty smart for a kid."

The boy trudged forward another few steps, and Konata focused on the glowing light they had almost reached, they were finally almost out of the darkness. The kid spoke up, "Not really. Johnson just taught me to keep a simple outlook on things. He said if I could view things in a simple way I could avoid the temptations that plague more intelligent people...I think he said something like ignorance is bliss."

Somehow the boy kept trudging on, refusing to give in to the leaden feeling in his small muscles, and Konata noticed for the first time, even though he looked so frail, Jacob felt like a wall. She could hardly fathom the willpower it would require to remain steady under this strain. She herself was falling apart just trying to keep from being overwhelmed, and this boy kept going, putting her to shame.

The boy muttered quietly, "I can't give up. No matter how hard it is. Even if it hurts, I have to at least make it out of this place. If I can't do that, then I can't do anything."

A simple outlook he had said. Konata wondered if he had meant that as literally as his last sentence might imply. Could he really be totally focused on just moving forward through the darkness with no thought of all the other terrible things that would lie in wait afterwards? Konata had no doubt that after this dark there would be terrible monsters still between her and Kagami. Monsters trying to kill her, to kill Jacob, to take away Katahaba, and Kagami forever.

"Hey Konata?"

The voice pulled he out of her disparate thoughts, and she answered tiredly, "Yeah, what is it?"

The boy responded, "Why didn't you leave me?"

Konata's eyes widened at the unexpected question. She answered, "How could I leave you in a place like this by yourself?"

The boy took a minute to answer, seemingly thinking something over as he shifted her slipping form back up on his shoulder, and said, "I never met anybody like you before. Nobody else ever stops to help anyone here. They're all worried about other things. You could have already made it out of here if I wasn't slowing you down."

There was a hint of regret in his voice, almost as if he wished he hadn't approached Konata's light in this place. Konata said strictly to the boy, cutting off anything else he might have said on the subject, "I'm not leaving you behind Jacob. We'll make it out I promise."

The boy nodded, and trudged on. Silence was their only companion as they walked, the voice seemingly having dissipated in favor of pressing in against their their little bubble with all the force it could muster. Both Konata's and Jacob's breaths were coming out in ragged gasps. The sweat poured off of them as they held out against the assault.

After what seemed like days the pressure suddenly eased off. Konata felt her little Haven slipping from her control as they reached the little bit of white in this entire abyss. Jacob stopped, and Konata could feel his body trembling with the effort of holding them both up. She herself felt as if she was going to pass out just focusing on walking while leaning on him.

Konata looked at the strange object that had been their destination. Not strange in a normal sense, but seeing as this place was as far from normal as she was ever likely to experience it made the door standing in front of them strange. A simple white wooden door with a bronze knob. Konata slowly reached out and opened it.

It creaked inwards, or rather away from them since it stood unsupported in a void of darkness, and yet behind the door they could see a hallway. It looked as if it belonged in a hospital judging by the faded brown sign further in that indicated a Day room off down a branch of hallway that couldn't be seen from their position.

The Otaku could feel her stomach slowly filling with a ball of ice. She didn't want to go in, she didn't want Jacob to go in. Her feet didn't obey her as she finally stood on her own strength, gripping Jacob's hand the two pushed inwards, letting the door close behind them.

Konata was dead on her feet, and she could tell Jacob wasn't doing any better especially after having carried both of them for the last quarter of the journey. It was a supreme effort just to use her arms to balance as she walked on wobbly legs down the hallway. She reached for her flashlight, flicking it on so she could make out the details of the hallways. About fifty feet further down was a small light glowing dimly as if on its last legs illuminating the sign for the day room and the three way junction of a hallway.

The rest of the area was dark, and Konata played the beam along the walls and floors to ascertain the situation. The tile was pvc type, and old, faded brown from years of disuse. The air was stale as if it couldn't be bothered to move unless she forced it in and out of her lungs. There were small cracks and fractures and peeling white paint all over the walls, and as Konata looked back behind them, she could see the door they had arrived through was gone.

Just more hallway behind them leading up to a left turn of which she had no idea what to expect from. Konata ruffled Jacob's hair as she sagged down to her knees, leaning her face into his chest as she sighed loudly, and said quietly, not wanting to disturb anything that might be lurking in the hallways, "We made it kid."

Jacob smiled at her before collapsing onto her shoulder. Konata felt a few tears leak out as she realized he had been giving everything he had just to stay conscious. Konata had no doubt that this little twig of a boy was all that had saved both her life and sanity. She felt new resolve strengthen her limbs just a bit as she lifted him up onto her shoulder, surprised by how light he was. She doubted he even weighed half of what she weighed, and that wasn't very much.

Of course in this place he wouldn't be able to eat regularly, she herself had barely seen a scrap of food since arriving, and judging by his white skin, Jacob had been here much longer than she. The silence settled in, and the only noise for her diminished senses was Jacob's breathing. Thank god she could hear that, otherwise she doubted she would have the strength to go on, but if this child could give everything his body was physically capable of to help her, then there was no way she was going to allow herself to drop before he was safe.

He had said he was tough when they first met, but Konata now knew that was an understatement. She didn't think there was _anyone_ besides him who could have made it through that dark hell they had just emerged from. That drive to keep going, and ability to ignore what his body told him, and force him to do what it had to do. Konata reflected sadly the only way he could have developed that so young is by being forced to have to do harsh things in order to survive.

Her fists tightened in anger thinking he was forced through something like this, and that that man from the magazine article earlier, Johnson his name had been was the cause of Jacob's pain. If she could, Konata knew she would hurt that man. She would make him pay for what he did to those children.

Konata took a step towards the light that indicated the day room branch, before freezing in place as her ears caught something else besides Jacob's breathing. Little clicking noises on the tile up ahead, that her mind had come to associate with danger echoed out quietly. Konata froze watching up ahead. It didn't take long before she found what was causing the noise.

It happened so fast she almost missed it. A flick of black crossed the borders of the light. Konata couldn't even be sure her eye's weren't playing tricks on her until she saw _it._

A lump in the wall traveling down at the edges of the light quickly moved into the floor and the tile bubbled up like a mound. Then it was moving towards them, slowly taking on a humanoid form. Transfixed Konata watched as it rose from the tile moving towards them so smoothly and quickly, its skin made of the same texture as the tile.

Yet a distinct mouth ripped open from the form where the head would be, and formed sharp teeth out of the tiled material comprising its body. It let out a massive blood lust filled roar. A long gravelly noise that would have shredded her vocal chords to imitate, but that one sound let her know that this beast was nothing but a ball of rage and hate for anything that wasn't itself, forever bound to be trapped inside the empty hospital and never again feel the freedom of the outside world.

That got Konata moving as she turned quickly, and sprinted away with Jacob's body on her shoulder. Konata was in panic in her mind as she considered how quickly it was moving. She had an almost fifty foot lead on it, but it was nearly as fast as she would have been fresh and without Jacob on her shoulder.

Konata dashed away from the Day Room direction and headed back towards the left bend in the hallway, trying to judge how much closer its roar had gotten. She turned to look over her shoulder as she rounded the corner in the hallway. The Floor creature moved as a blur, missing the corner, and smashing into the wall, leaving a spider web of cracks, and Konata knew if she had been caught in that, she would have splattered into pulp with Jacob as well.

That thought made her want to wretch, especially as the lump shape rose back up out of the wall, growing a arm that quickly swiped at her, almost faster than she could follow. Her martial arts reflexes allowed her to dodge backwards, moving in the same direction as the blow to lessen its force, she was still unprepared though to be hit by something as solid as a wall.

The blow knocked her off her feet despite just catching the shoulder opposite of Jacob, and Konata slid about three feet when she landed. Konata could feel a bruise already forming as black spots danced in her vision, but she still filed away how long it took for the monster to recover from attacking her like that as she got up, and headed away from it as it slowly sunk back into the wall to reform its lump shape.

It shot after her five seconds later.

Konata saw a single door approaching, ending the hallway in a dead end, and she loudly yelled, "Not locked, not locked, not locked!"

Konata wrenched the door open, and nearly sobbed when she saw it was only a big supply closet with a dim light bulb for illumination, but with no other choice, Konata moved in, and slammed the green metal door behind her as she threw herself, and Jacob to the far end of the room as she felt a massive impact make the whole room shudder.

Konata waited for it to appear anywhere around her as she lay on the floor with Jacob hugging him tightly against her chest in a feeble attempt to shield him from their fate. The attack she was expecting never came. Konata waited and waited, hyperventilating on the floor, feeling her lungs and muscles burn and feeling a call to pass out as her tired body crashed after the adrenaline receded.

It was only after a few minutes she realized Jacob had woken up in the commotion, as he feebly wrapped his skinny arms around her as she cradled his head against her chest like she had been taught by Matsuri what seemed like years ago.

He whispered quietly, "Thanks for not leaving me."

Konata stroked his mop of hair comfortingly.

He trembled in her arms, and Konata realized her shirt was growing wet around his face as she comforted him quietly, she asked him, "Are you alright, Jacob?"

He nodded into her chest, before saying quietly, "Why? Why are you trying so hard to keep me safe? Nobody has ever tried to take care of me like that before."

Konata shivered with barely suppressed rage at the child's previous treatment, and felt her tears flowing freely as she answered, "Jacob, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise I'll take care of you, and I'll keep you safe no matter what."

Jacob cried pitifully into her chest, and Konata cried right alongside him. Too tired to do anything else Jacob passed out against after his cry. Konata's racing mind kept her body from shutting down for a few minutes as she berated herself for not being stronger. She brutalized herself mentally over and over for not being able to protect him and Kagami for danger.

More than anything though she was scared to death. Not that she would get hurt here. That some monster would rip her limb from limb. She was scared of the thoughts she was having. Thoughts she had told herself for a year were completely forbidden. Konata was afraid as she felt her mind thinking these taboo thoughts of protecting and loving.

Before she passed out from the strain of everything, Konata whispered in a scared tone a thought she knew she wasn't allowed to have anymore.

"_My baby."_

* * *

><p>Author's note:Yeah, I know this took forever, but real life strikes...forever pretty much. Thankfully my butcher shop is doing better than I had dared to dream it would when I first opened it, but now I've hired on a full staff there, and am even getting ready to take my vacation here in about two weeks. Thank you all so much for your support through both PMs and reviews. It means so much to me when you guys take the time to let me know you really like what I'm doing and I'm not writing into a void.<p>

To Pahn- I can't send you a pm since you're a guest reviewer, but thank you so much for recommending my story on the TVTropes site. I'm glad you like the way I write, and I hope I won't let you down with future chapters.

To everyone else I thank you so much for bearing with me as it takes me forever to update thanks to ALWAYS being busy at work. I hope I can get two chapters out during my vacation if I don't sleep the whole thing away.

It feels awesome to finally get something done on this since I think about this story all the time, and really want to make it into something great before the finish. Next time is Resonance Part III, which should be the last part of the Resonance chapters before the plot starts moving forward again. We're starting to get into the main part of the plot, and hopefully you guys will all enjoy what I will endeavor to make into an awesome story.


	13. Resonance Part III

Chapter 13 – Resonance Part III

_Am I dreaming?_

_Jacob?_

_Where are you?_

Konata didn't receive any sort of answer to her questions.

_I'm not strong enough!_

_Why am I never strong enough!?_

_What's wrong with me?_

* * *

><p>"So, you two slept together last night?"<p>

It was Kagami, and both Matsuri and Konata looked shaken as she glared at them from across the breakfast table. Kagami was pissed, and Konata was afraid to say anything in answer. Judging by Kagami's mood she was likely to be beaten to death along with Matsuri if not properly appeased. For once Konata decided to keep her mouth shut, and let the more experienced girl deal with Kagami.

Matsuri smirked at her little sister, and said, "You mad, Sis?"

"Dammit, we're dead," thought Konata as she slammed her head into the table.

Kagami looked like she might jump across the table, and start thrashing them any second, but she managed to regain her composure as she eyed her older sister, and sighed loudly before saying, "Never mind. This is just you two trying to get me riled up so you can pull some prank while I'm not thinking straight."

Matsuri went wide eyed in mock overreaction, and stuttered, "Wha...I don't even...you...we would never do something like that!"

Konata actually smirked, she couldn't believe how well Matsuri played Kagami to get her through her anger. Big sisters were awesome. She would need to trade tips on manipulating Kagami later with the older girl. For now though, she decided to apologize later to Kagami. Her anger may be gone, but Konata noticed the hurt look in her eyes. Kagami had been frantic when she woke up in the morning to find herself no longer holding Konata, especially when she had been in such a fragile state the day before. The panic had subsided, and been replaced by anger when she had gone into Matsuri's room hoping her older sister would know something only to find Konata's face smothered by Matsuri's breasts as they both snored on completely oblivious to the world.

She had slammed the door, waking them up, and given them a cold silent treatment for the first ten minutes of breakfast, only speaking to them after everyone else left the table. Honestly, Konata was surprised Kagami was letting it go so easily. Then again, from what Matsuri had told her, Kagami would have never believed for long that her older sister who she confided every secret with was actually trying to hurt her. Knowing the lavender haired girl, she was probably angry with herself for even thinking along those lines. Kagami would be ashamed that she had doubted her sister for even a second, and the Otaku couldn't help but feel as if Kagami's hurt was a little of her own fault.

If she hadn't been weak, and tried to leave so suddenly, she wouldn't have needed Matsuri to guide her, and Kagami wouldn't be feeling this way. On finishing that thought, Matsuri excused herself from the table, leaving the two of them. Konata watched her go, and Kagami noticed it. The Tsundere sighed dejectedly, and said, "Sorry if I made you mad Konata, I did something stupid."

Konata was surprised, Kagami usually wouldn't want to talk about things she felt strongly about. She was blaming herself just as Konata thought. The Otaku responded, "Don't worry about that Kagamin. I did something stupid too. I'm just glad Matsuri-nee was there to help."

Kagami's eyes widened at Konata's use of Matsuri's name before her features softened into a smile, and said, "Yeah, I've been there before. I really love Matsuri-nee. She's always there when I need her."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, just hearing everyone else going about their business in the house before quietly, Kagami said, "Hey."

Konata looked up, and met the Tsundere's eyes curiously before the lavender haired girl continued, "If something was bothering you that bad again...do you think, maybe you could tell me about it?"

Konata smiled, and nodded, before responding, "Definitely."

* * *

><p><em>Why?<em>

_Why does everyone always hurt themselves for me?_

_They all deserve someone better._

* * *

><p>Konata lay in her bed once more as that thing watched her. It slowly moved in and caressed her cheek with its hand. It kissed her lips softly before slowly making its way down to her neck, and collarbone where its kisses grew in force. It quietly whispered, "Kanata. You're so beautiful."<p>

Konata didn't even twitch as It's hand made it's way to her chest. She had long since learned to shut It out when it was like this. Fighting back only made it angry, and when it got angry, her _real_ father would suffer alongside her. She still loved her real dad despite everything. He was always so kind, and loving. He cherished her for who she was, and not what she reminded him of.

Not for the first time Konata felt as if maybe she deserved this. Maybe if she hadn't been born, Kanata would still be alive. Maybe if she was still alive, her dad wouldn't have to suffer. Maybe he wouldn't have ended up like this. With every passing day her father seemed a little more gone, and It was at the forefront. It was using her dad as much as It was using her in Konata's mind.

Soon it would be over. Soon It would give her all It was good for, and she would be gone. Konata would disappear, and if she was lucky Kagami would come with her, but she doubted it. Every time she thought of the Tsundere her resolve wavered though. Konata didn't know if she could last another week without breaking down.

* * *

><p><em>Why does everyone help me?<em>

_Why can't I ever help them instead?_

_Am I just that pathetic?_

* * *

><p>Konata looked around worriedly as she entered the park, and felt her nervousness spike when she spotted Kagami already waiting on her. For a moment she thought of backing out, even though she had called Kagami here out of the blue to tell her about what would happen in a week. Soon enough she would have her baby, and her suffering would be over.<p>

Kagami spotted her before she made her way over, and closed the distance between them, obviously frowning when she noticed Konata's distressed look. Konata looked up to Kagami as the younger girl hugged her, and said, "Can we talk somewhere with less people?"

The Tsundere nodded at Konata's request, and they set off from the crowded park entrance to the west, where hardly anybody ever went. When The Otaku felt they were isolated enough, she broke Kagami's heart by saying, "We're going to start trying to get pregnant next week."

Konata wanted to scream as she saw Kagami's open mouth gape at the statement turn into a look of deep hurt. Konata continued through Kagami's stunned silence, "I'll be the same age my mom was when she got pregnant with me. That's really important to me."

Konata could see Kagami grasping for straws, and knew she would try to argue again, but Konata had made up her mind. It was too selfish to ask Kagami to come with her, to leave everything behind so that thing wouldn't target her. She would push Kagami away for good today. She would make her best friend hate her by crushing her hopes of their being together, and she would finally be able to help the younger girl by making sure she didn't get involved.

"No way! You're too young! You need to live a little first, besides, we haven't even met this guy yet, how can you have kids with some guy who hasn't even met your best friends?" answered Kagami, just as expected, and yet Konata's stomach felt like it would empty out when she saw the betrayed look in Kagami's eyes. Kagami really believed Konata was choosing some man she had never met over her best friends, and all the time they had all spent together. Konata couldn't stand that.

She wanted to push Kagami away, she wanted to save her from being miserable alongside herself, but she was too weak. Feeling her bottom lip tremble, Konata responded, "It's probably best if you guys don't meet him. I'm probably going to leave him after I get pregnant anyways."

Then came the shock. Konata honestly couldn't tell what her best friend was thinking, or if she was thinking at all. She might have just been too stunned Konata had said something like that. Then came the hurt. Konata could swear she saw the light leave Kagami's eyes, and it broke her heart that she was responsible for it. Kagami tried to appear angry rather than hurt as she responded, "That's idiotic Konata! Who's going to support you and your baby if you do that! I know you always mooch off of everyone, but there's a limit!"

Kagami's eyes were so dull. That's what Konata thought to herself, too dull. Where there was normally all the light she needed to cheer up, and move on through another day there was nothing, and she was the one who had killed it. The ice like feeling that had been growing in Konata's stomach since the beginning of the conversation seemed to spread through the rest of her body as she saw what she was actually doing. She was lashing out. She was hurting the person closest to her because she was in too much pain to bear it anymore, and when she saw the first hints of Kagami's tears forming Konata's resolve shattered. She felt her face heat up as her own tears leaked out, and she realized she couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't hurt Kagami no matter what.

To stoop to that level would make her the same as that monster stealing her father away. Konata barely even realized it as she sought comfort from the pain of hurting her best friend in the arms of that very person. It felt so natural, Kagami always comforted her, and she hated herself even more for being so selfish as to seek that comfort when she was actively hurting the younger girl anyways. All of a sudden it was all too much, and she spoke without thinking even as she felt her best friends arms encircle her, and pat her back soothingly, "I can't help it! I hate him so much, but if I leave him then who else is there!? I have to have my baby, it's been my only dream for my whole life! He's the only one who can do this for me...I just hate this whole situation...I just-"

Konata was silenced as she felt something warm and soft pressed against her lips and her eyes widened in shock as she took in what was happening. Kagami was kissing her. Konata was well aware of Kagami's attraction to her, and while she had never let herself seriously entertain the thought that she might actually be a good enough person to receive Kagami's love, she had never outright denied her own attraction to the younger girl that was always there for her.

Her lips were so soft. They were warm, and that warmth spread from her mouth throughout her body, comforting her. It was nothing like those dispassionate kisses that monster gave her. She felt no urge to escape from this. It was too amazing, she knew she didn't deserve something like this, but Konata closed her eyes, and focused on the sensations of Kagami embracing her tighter, and being a little more forceful in the kiss. Then, as quickly as it started, it was over, and despite it only lasting a few seconds, both girls were breathlessly panting.

After a few moments Kagami met Konata's eyes, and whispered her name. Konata opened her eyes at the mention of her name, questioning herself. Why? Why would Kagami still love her, and why wouldn't she just hate her and move on already even when Konata had clearly been trying to hurt her feelings?

Kagami's face was quickly getting redder and redder as the reality of the situation and what she had done settled on her, but Konata herself was still too shocked at what happened to start processing all the implications. Then she noticed Kagami lightly bite her bottom lip, a common tell she had come to recognize, followed by a twitching eyebrow, and that tiny vein in her forehead bulging just enough to be visible.

Kagami was mad? Why would the Tsundere kiss her if she was angry with her? It just didn't make sense. Kagami released their embrace, and Konata's previously supported arms just slumped as she was still too numb to start responding, all of her being focused on the girl in front of her, and for once she had no thoughts about her abuse.

For once, she had no thoughts about her baby, no thoughts about what would be waiting for her when she got home, or how she would cope with leaving everything behind. For those moments, all there was in life was Kagami.

The younger girl broke the spell by speaking, and even though it was just barely above a whisper in volume, the blue haired girl could clearly hear what she was being told. Kagami said, "I love you Konata...so...so...You'll just have to deal with it."

As the lavender haired girl said the last part she finally broke eye contact, and her face almost seemed to be emitting steam from the embarrassment despite the apparent anger she felt. Konata could only think at the time, "There's my Tsundere."

_Konata felt a heavy hand slam down on her shoulder, and rather than her knees buckling she felt stronger than she had ever felt before. That strong grip seemed to take all the energy out of her body, and she just felt like slumping lifelessly to the ground despite the reinforcement she felt in her soul. Looking at Kagami who seemed so weak her hands were shaking, and her legs were wobbly, she could tell the other girl felt the same thing._

_The blue haired girl slowly glanced over her shoulder to find who was responsible for it only to see Katahaba standing next to her gripping her shoulder, almost as if holding her up, and making sure she could keep going forward even when her body felt on the verge of collapse._

_He gave her a cocky grin that somehow made her happy, and said, "It's alright, I already forgave you."_

* * *

><p>Konata's head exploded in pain, and she screamed as she bolted awake, fighting the urge to vomit from the searing pain in her mind. Was that it? Was that when she had met Katahaba? Was that why he was so familiar? Had he really been in that park?<p>

As the pain slowly settled down, Konata thought back on it, and knew that wasn't the case. Nobody had been there but her and Kagami. She was positive no matter how familiar that man seemed she would have remembered it by now if they had ever actually met somewhere. Konata was positive that the first time they had met was in this darkness, and yet that felt so wrong to her on the inside even as she thought it.

Konata could feel bits of self loathing creeping up in herself unexplained when she considered the idea that she hadn't known Katahaba previously to all this. Then something horrible clicked in her mind as she considered why she felt so empty at the moment, and she snapped her head around, looking all over the small supply closet she was in dimly illuminated by a fading yellow light from a single unshielded light bulb on the roof.

Her stomach seemed to drop to her knees as she realized she was alone, and no tears even came as something inside her broke. Konata eyed her knife as if it were something to be revered in her weakness. She was useless. She couldn't protect Kagami, she couldn't protect Jacob, she couldn't even remember Katahaba. Maybe everyone would be better off she disappeared, and in this place they never even had to know what happened to her. After all, Jacob had disappeared, and she hadn't even noticed it.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the door Kagami was greeted by the sound of running water, as well as the smell of garbage, sewage, and god knows what else. It wasn't surprising really, she had gone down far enough from the street while running from the Takers the only thing she should be able to enter from here would be a sewer or a subway. Her mind was still addled by the things James had told her, and she genuinely felt bad for him, but if she spent all her energy dwelling on him, she wouldn't be able to find Konata, and her girlfriend was the one who really needed her right now.<p>

Konata...She was strong, and Kagami knew it. Maybe she couldn't fight the way James obviously could, but she trusted Konata wouldn't break under the strain of this place. She herself had nearly fallen apart under the pressure, but had managed to pull herself together, and wouldn't be succumbing to this place anytime soon. Konata however, would be fighting this place, and Kagami knew it. That little Otaku would fight tooth and nail for every bit of her sanity that she had finally started to regain over the last year.

Then there was Katahaba, and she wasn't even sure what to make of him. He was hiding things, but didn't seem like a bad person, at least not dangerous like James and Johnson. She had felt something when they had first met, nothing as strong as what he and Konata had felt about each other, but she couldn't help but feel like she had met someone like him before.

He shared some traits with Konata, that was for sure from their reactions, but he seemed too different for that to be her main comparison of him. It wasn't even him himself, he reminded her of a whole blend of people, just a little of each one. Maybe there was even a little of her in there somewhere even if he hadn't shown any indication of being anything other than a clown.

A wet smacking sound further down the tunnel reminded Kagami that she may not be alone down here. She instinctively reached for Konata's phone in order to turn the flashlight on, but a small crackling sound at her hip stopped her. Kagami remembered the radio reacting to the Takers, and wondered silently if it would react to other monsters as well, or if it was just broken.

Another wet sucking noise later, and the static grew marginally louder, and deciding to play it safe, Kagami reached out for the wall on her right. It was too black to see anything, and that alone made Kagami's stomach turn as her nervousness returned full force. She wanted desperately just to turn on a light, and have some form of vision, even if it was only a few feet in any direction.

The Tsundere's hand finally reached the wall, and she recoiled with a gasp. Her hand brushed against not cold stone like she had been expecting, but something warm, and wet. It almost seemed to shiver when she touched it. All of her self control was going towards not screaming as she considered her options.

The lavender haired girl was honestly expecting to have something jump on her any second, but all she got were more wet smacks that seemed to be moving aimlessly, and nothing else. Kagami swallowed hard, and reached out again. This time she didn't recoil when she felt the fleshy wall tense under her touch before relaxing and resuming its shivering.

Some sort of wet liquid coated the wall as well, and Kagami couldn't repress the mental image that she was running her hand over someone's insides as she took a few nervous steps forward. Each little movement without pain or encounter gave her a small boost in confidence as she began a slow nervous walk down the tunnel. Soon she was standing beside whatever was making the thumping noises, and Kagami tried to stop herself from picturing one of those mouth creatures from the theater as her radio crackled angrily.

The static noises didn't seem to tip the monster off that anything was out of the ordinary, and the Tsundere really hoped that that would keep being the case even around other creatures. About a hundred feet past whatever creature she had moved by Kagami felt the wall turn away from her, and rounded a corner. After proceeding for another fifty feet she stopped to listen intently to her surroundings.

All she could make out was the steady thrum of water, and that creature stalking off into the distance far behind her. Hearing nothing ahead, she risked turning on her light for the first time. It illuminated a couple feet around her in each direction, but even that was enough to make the Tsundere feel sick to her stomach.

The fleshy wall she had been using as a guide was a bright red with what looked to be thick blood running down it. A two or three foot drop to her left revealed a small river of the same crimson liquid, loaded with trash and the carcasses of small decomposing animals flowing by. Throughout the whole area she could see there was a strange red mist floating around making all details seem blurry.

Her hand was covered in red stains from touching the wall, and she knew it was in her hair and on her face too from where she had brushed her hair out of her eyes a couple times, not being used to her hair flowing freely. Kagami couldn't help but whisper, "What the hell _is_ all this?"

Kagami noticed that just like her breath had been misting in the cold outside, her breath now misted red like the mist surrounding her, and it made her feel sick to see it, almost like somehow this place was pulling something out of her. She held her hand out, and noticed the details blurred out of her vision when it was about two feet away, just like the rest of the room, making the end of her arm just look like a flesh colored lump. Kagami resolved to get out of this place as quickly as possible.

She started moving again keeping an eye out for any kind of door, when she heard the telltale hiss of many mouths opening very far behind her. A few seconds later, she heard a wet splat, and what Kagami could only imagine was something being torn apart, maybe the monster behind her had found something.

The feeling in Kagami's stomach intensified every second as she continued forward, now sweating profusely as her instincts told her she needed to find a way out right then, or she wouldn't be okay. Risking a glance down, she saw there were now bigger bodies floating in the crimson liquid in the depression to her left. She still couldn't see details, but quite a few looked like they were people, and as she broke into a panicked run, she noticed there were now hundreds of corpses there.

Many small dogs with strange mouths, blue skinned things with a bloody shredded stump sticking slightly out above the liquid where there should have been legs. All of them lifeless, and she imagined their faces being frozen in anguish as she passed.

Kagami noticed it was steadily getting brighter around her, and risked a glance behind her only to see a wall of glowing red mist in the distance behind her. It swirled lazily even as the wall of mist began closing in. Kagami had seen enough, and urged herself to go faster. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and even as the area grew brighter from the mist closing in, she couldn't see any end to the tunnel.

A small break in the walkway took Kagami by surprised, and stumbled as she tried to avoid it, but managed to stay upright. Small tendrils of red wrapped around her arms and legs, and while they offered no physical resistance, Kagami could feel them trying to drain her. When they came in contact with her, she could hear furious whispers in her mind.

_Why does she get to live?_

_I hate her!_

_Join us..._

_Sleep._

Kagami's legs felt weak, and her breath was coming in ragged gasps as she fought to stay upright while they blood mist enveloped her, sapping her strength. She had thought that it would hurt, but there was no pain in her body. She was just so..._tired._

Kagami couldn't see anything but red, and despite feeling as if the life was being sucked out of her, she kept crawling. She kept thinking of Konata, and how the smaller girl needed her, and how she couldn't afford to give up. No matter what she had to keep going for Konata.

Kagami's hand missed the side of the narrow walkways as she crawled, and took a spill into the thick crimson water a few feet below, her last thoughts before she passed out being how she would save her Otaku even as she felt the thick fluid run down her throat, and filled her lungs.

* * *

><p>Katahaba laid in the middle of the dark formless void all around him. The only things he could feel was the cold chain link making up the floor he laid on, and the even colder rain falling all around him, chilling him to the bone. He felt tired, after all, he reasoned, he had walked a really long way, and fought a bunch of monsters. He needed his rest.<p>

_That's not it._

He had saved plenty of people, surely he deserved just a little rest. Getting hit hurt, and even if he could handle pain, it didn't mean he wanted to go looking for it. Maybe it would be better if he just slept it all off for a little while. The big man figured he wasn't so special that him resting for a little while would disturb anything important.

_Stop lying to yourself._

Damn. That voice was getting annoying. Nobody is a mountain. Nobody is a solid wall. Everyone needs rest occasionally, let someone else step up for a little while. James could do everything he could do without even taking the hits, and Creed was strong enough to handle anything without breaking a sweat. It wasn't his fault he had to keep up with two monsters like them. Sometimes it was just as important to not do anything as it was to fight hard for everything.

_Get up you lazy ass!_

Katahaba sighed, and slowly opened his eyes to find he wasn't alone. He took in her appearance slowly as he hadn't seen her in what seemed like a very long time. Her ragged brown dress showed signs of having been patched several times, and was a size too small for her. The girl's fiery red hair hung halfway down her back, and an angry scowl made her emerald eyes seem to glow in the darkness. She wasn't even five feet tall, and looked to be around 12 years old. Perhaps the oddest thing about her was that the rain never seemed to touch her. It poured all around them, and yet she was always dry.

"Oh, Yunie, it's you," Katahaba said quietly.

Her scowl eased just a bit at his recognition, at least it did before he closed his eyes again.

"DAMMIT, Don't ignore me!" she shouted, punching his forehead harshly, before cradling her sore hand and blowing on it as Katahaba finally sat up slowly.

She glared at him, and said, "The hell are you made of, bricks?"

"Close enough," the big man responded.

The redhead let her glare die down, and sighed before hugging his head against her. They stayed like that for a few minutes, not saying anything. After a little while the girl whispered to him, "You've all been gone a long time. You need to come home."

"Hey, don't worry, I almost got James, if I can catch up to him just one more time, I know I can bring him back," answered Katahaba.

The redhead squeezed him a little tighter, and Katahaba felt warmth flowing through his body as he listened to the small girl's heart beat quietly. She shook her head, and said, "He's too angry. I don't think you'll be able to stop him. He's going to end up hurting you this time."

Katahaba trembled a little as he actually considered for the very first time that his own big brother might try and hurt him before rejecting it flat out. He said, "Hey, don't lose faith Yunie. I'll bring him and Creed back even if it kills me, and then we can all be a family again. One more time, and I'll be able to get through, I know it."

"Katahaba...I can't even reach him anymore, and you're nowhere near as strong as any of us. Please don't hurt yourself anymore..." the little girl trailed off sadly.

Katahaba wasn't shaken though, now that he had regained his confidence and happiness from his first meeting with Yunie since he had left home after Creed and James what seemed like years ago. He jumped up quickly, dragging Yunie into the air as she clutched her arms around his shoulders as he did so, and exclaimed, "Hey! Don't underestimate me! I'm strong in a tough sort of way!"

She sharply rapped his head again, earning her another sore knuckle, and said, "Being tough isn't going to help you against a sword or gun. Being tough would be even less than useless if you happen across Creed in a bad mood. Why don't you just come help me take care of the others?"

For just a moment Katahaba stumbled as if she had struck a blow, and then he answered, "Yunie. I'm not smart enough to take care of them, and provide for them like James is. If it's just me back there with you how are we going to teach the kids? How are we going to keep them all fed? They'd have a better chance at surviving back in Silent Hill."

Yunie's grip tightened at the mention of the town. It was a sore spot for almost all the children, and Wish House in particular. She said quietly, "I don't know what it was like there...you know I wasn't one of you guys..."

"Hey. That's enough of that," Katahaba interjected seriously, and he felt her hug him again, and smiled as he continued, "Whether you grew up like them or not, you're still our family. Maybe even the most important one, without you, Creed, James, and especially me would probably have never gotten anywhere."

She answered back quietly, "Without Jacob, I wouldn't even have gotten the chance to be here. I never would have gotten the chance for all of you to make me so happy."

Katahaba sighed as he pulled up that particular nasty set of memories, and said, "You really miss him, huh?"

She nodded into his back, and felt his shoulders slump. He then asked, "So...How do you feel about me then?"

Yunie didn't even need to think before she responded, "There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss Jacob. He died for what he believed would help everyone, not just us, but Johnson, the Order, everyone stuck here, and I believe he might have even thought he was helping the whole world. At the same time though, there's never a day that goes by that I don't thank him for bringing you into our lives Katahaba. You're our little brother just as sure as Jacob was our big one. We'll always love you and try to take care of you just like he always took care of us, and nothing will ever change that. We all love you. As a matter of fact, that's the whole reason I'm here."

Yunie felt Katahaba's shoulder's trembling, and cracked a smile when he declared he wasn't crying and was manly. Then Katahaba straightened his back, and shrugged the smaller girl off before giving her a grin and saying, "Looks like I pansied out, and got lost. Thanks Yunie."

With that he turned and strode away from her towards the endless dark, and she called after him, "Wait, is that it!?"

He waved, and said, "Yep, I'm good."

She called back, "It took Jacob nearly a year to get me on the right path again when I was lost."

He shouted back just as he faded from view, "Well, I'm a lot dumber than you, so my problems are never quite as bad or complicated. That just means they can be worked through that much more quickly. Either that, or maybe you're just that good."

"Katahaba!" she shouted, hoping it wasn't too late.

After a couple seconds of silence she worried she had missed her chance to say goodbye, then Katahaba shouted from a distance beyond her vision, "What?"

She was pissed at him for that, and called back, "Don't play with me like that you ass!"

"Is that all?" he responded loudly, sounding a little further away. Yunie could tell he wouldn't be stopping now that his mind was set, he was always too stubborn for his own good. She set aside her anger for her younger brother, a sure sign of love for anyone who knew about her and her easily awoken temper.

She called out one last time, "You're never alone! You know that right!?"

Somehow Yunie knew Katahaba had stopped a moving, that was just as big a tell for him as her not being angry, then she felt him whisper, "I know. After all, you're everywhere the rain falls, right?"

Yunie smiled, and felt the slightest bit of dampness on her cheeks, she considered maybe the rain finally touched her since she stopped crying a long time ago. She hadn't heard his whisper, she just knew it. Just like she had known he had needed her.

Yunie stood in the dark feeling her little brother's presence fade back to wherever it was he felt he was needed before she fist pumped, and shouted, "Oh Yeah! I'm a badass!"

* * *

><p>Kagami awoke to coldness. Her whole body felt numb, and she couldn't properly process what she was lying down on, although she knew it as hard, and uncomfortable. Forcing her limbs to move made her feel like fire was running through her veins instead of blood as they fought desperately against the tiredness that was sucking her ever deeper into the darkness.<p>

Her hearing came back before her vision, and she listened to the whispering all around her. Hushed voices, not having conversations, just speaking over and over about their misery, or their sadness. Some voices stood out from other, a few talking about not being strong enough to leave, but most of the voices sounded broken.

Kagami opened her eyes, and immediately wished she hadn't. She was in what appeared to be an endless black room, with no definitive floor or ceiling, and yet the black she rested on was as hard as stone. She was completely surrounded by small figures. Some were sitting, some were lying like she was, but most were slowly moping around. Some were shaking their heads, or clutching their temples while resting on their knees in misery.

The figures were around three to four feet tall with no discernible features other than their black flesh which seemed to swirl like smoke when they moved. Every one of them had a small, but different voice incessantly whispering. The worst part was that every one of them appeared to be children. Kagami fought herself to a sitting position, and slowly surveyed her surroundings. None of the shadows paid her any attention, even after she managed to stand, and begin ambling in the first direction she picked.

On closer inspection not all of the figures were the smoky seeming ones. Blended in with them were a few figures of the same heights looking just as drab, although with brownish tough leathery looking skin. A few of them were even carrying knives, but they made no aggressive moves towards Kagami despite a couple watching her as she weaved her way through the crowds with no idea where to go really.

_Where am I?_

_Am I dead?_

Those were just two of hundreds of thoughts rapidly tearing through her mind. If she were dead, then she supposed there were worse ways to go, at least it hadn't hurt very much, but a part of her refused to believe it. There was no way she would give up, and leave Konata, and her sisters, and everyone else so easily.

Kagami's steps clacked loudly as she walked forward, and she shuddered as she noticed one of the shadowy figure's head was twitching along with the rhythm of her steps. Kagami tried to ignore the fact that with each step, the shadows seemed to grow, how with each blink of her eyes they seemed to edge closer, and she broke out into a run. After all, there was nowhere she could hide here, there was nowhere she could go to stop the incessant whispering.

The soft clacks of her shoes became harsh as she pushed forward, Kagami knew she could never block the voices, she could never hide from the figures around her, but she could at least focus on what was most important to her. These things wouldn't stop her even if they tried. Just like her sister had saved her from the monster in the dress shop earlier, Kagami could feel she wasn't alone no matter what, and she would make it if she refused to break.

* * *

><p>Kagami burst from the crimson liquid, and screamed as it tried to drag her back down. Its viscous tendrils stretching from her face, hair, and chest as she fought to stay above the liquid. She fought her way back towards the walkway she had been running on before the mist had caught her before. She grunted with effort as she snatched her left arm above the water to reach out for the cold cement that heralded her escape, even as the mist all around made her feel weak, she tried to ignore it.<p>

For a moment, it was all too much, she was scared, she was tired, and hungry, and hurting all over. The Tsundere didn't even know if anyone had missed their disappearance at home yet. Those dark thoughts roiled as her arm was drug back down, and she began sinking again.

_How many people would really even notice if we were gone?_

With that thought, she was pulled back violently below the surface, feeling her back impact harshly with the cement making up the bottom of the sewer. She felt her consciousness being pulled away again as her body flared in pain.

* * *

><p>Kagami awoke to coldness. Her whole body was wracked in pain, and yet she managed to stand. The Tsundere had previously been saddened, but now she was furious. This <em>place<em>. It toyed with her, and Konata, and James, and probably even Johnson. It kept her from Konata, it kept her from her family, and Kagami was determined that if she could break out of this place once, she could do it again.

She began walking, this time, her anger served to block the whispers all around her as she stalked forward, determined to break out of this place again, but this time she noticed the shadowy figures giving her a wide berth, while the brown figures with the knives hid themselves away behind their misty counterparts.

"Excuse me Miss..."

Kagami, out of habit turned, and snapped, "WHAT!?"

The middle aged man who had spoken stumbled back from the ferocity of the young woman in front of him. His features coated with shock and fear for a moment, before Kagami realized what she had done, and forced herself to calm down, at least enough to talk to the man. She said , "Sorry about that mister, but if you're looking for help, there isn't anything I can really do for anyone right now."

The man regarded her suspiciously for a moment, and Kagami took the time to analyze him, mainly looking for any weapons hidden on him anywhere. Seeing none, Kagami allowed herself to relax a bit, although after the people she had met in this place so far, there was no telling what was wrong with this man.

He was middle aged, and was wearing thick lensed plastic glasses, black slacks, and a white dress shirt with the tattered remnants of a red tie around his neck. Kagami couldn't help, but think how he looked so...ordinary. The man spoke up, saying, "Now, now, don't worry about that young lady, there's no leaving this place for me, anyways. It's just been so long since I saw another regular person, I almost couldn't believe it."

Kagami didn't doubt his words, but his pleasant attitude seemed fake somehow. Almost like he had forgotten how to interact with people, and was acting the role out now as best he could. It was obvious the man had been here for some time, so Kagami asked him, "Where are we anyways? Nobody will give me a straight answer."

The man chuckled, and answered, "That's the question of the day, and even after all these years, I still don't know the answer. This place has been called many things. Most commonly though, this would be called the Otherworld. Almost like a dark reflection of our world, but not quite."

Kagami tried to make sense of the man, he seemed to be trying to dumb down his speech for her, and struggling to find ways to express himself. Kagami decided since he couldn't answer the first question, she may as well start simple at something he might be able to answer, so she asked him, "Who are you then?"

The man adjusted his spectacles, and said, "My name is Dylan Hoff. I'm a scientist, well, I used to be a scientist. Unfortunately I got too invested in this place, did some things I'm not proud of, but have come to terms with, and now I'm stuck..._here._"

Kagami digested the information greedily having finally found someone willing to actually talk to her, and better yet, he was seemingly normal if a little on the socially awkward side. Even though she was still burning to get back to Konata, maybe she had finally found someone who could help her. Maybe this man could finally give her enough information to figure this place out.

Kagami curiously questioned, "So...you mean you were studying this place? If that's so, then maybe you can tell me how to find people here? People have hinted how to do it, but I haven't managed it yet, I also need to know how to leave with her when I find her, please, anything you can tell me would be really helpful."

Dylan considered the earnest tone of voice this young lady was using now as opposed to the harshness she had shown at first, considering if this woman had a split personality of some sort, she might be one of the many crazies running around, especially if she was more interested in finding someone than escaping. After weighing his options, he decided to be honest with her, answering, "Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that it's relatively easy to find someone you're looking for in this place. After all, if you need them for something this nightmare will constantly flaunt them to draw out your dark side. The bad news is two parts though. First off, this place never gives people what they want, it uses them until they break, and have no more energy to give, then discards them if it can't make use of them against someone else. The other bad news is that coming and going is different for everyone. No two people enter quite the same way without the help of the Order's rituals, and no one can leave until they've shrugged off this place's hold on them. It will then be in a rather large hurry to be rid of you so it can focus its energy on other more worthwhile targets."

That took a while to sink in entirely. The man was describing this place like some sort of sentient leech. Drawing energy from people, and discarding those it couldn't use with some sort of intelligence. Something about that sounded right, but the other parts sounded wrong. Kagami answered, "No, that can't be right. Me and Konata came here together. We fell asleep at the movie, and woke up here, and this place hasn't tried flaunting her at all, it's done everything it can to keep us apart."

The scientist listened carefully, considering this information, it had after all been a long time since he had bothered studying anything in this place, but what this girl was saying sounded impossible. It all came down to energy. There would simply be too much energy required for this place tor each out, and take two people...unless.

He asked quickly, "Girl...what's your relationship with this Konata?"

Kagami blushed at the question, thinking this man had no kind of tact, but answered, "Konata's my girlfriend. We've been together for a while now."

He replied immediately, "And if you had to choose between finding her, and leaving this place, which would you do?"

"Both." answered Kagami, not even considering letting Konata be here for the rest of her life.

The man chuckled, and then he laughed, confusing Kagami before he muttered, "Well, I'll be damned...Well I'll be god damned. You're not even supposed to be here. This place fucked up again. It all comes down to energy you see. This place, or "Paradise" for lack of a better term, we may as well use the order's terms, is nothing but a parasite. Who knows, maybe it really was a paradise at one, point, maybe the Order is right, and their god is resting here, but I digress, whether their religion is true or not, this place is a big parasite. It needs energy, craves energy in ridiculous amounts. Not any energy though, it thrives on our negative energies, produced by our Auras in times of duress. That energy festers and grows inside us, fostering negative emotions which it uses against us. It brings people here, and "Farms" them."

The man stopped here to take a breath from his excited rant, and Kagami raised a questioning eyebrow, not sure where he was going with this. After a moment Dylan continued, "It instigates situations from our negative energies to try and grow them even more, and when a person has reached their breaking point, it takes them, and devours their energy. From there it uses their shell against other people in the farming process. The thing about you and your girlfriend though, is that your Auras are entwined, it tried to pull her, I'm assuming assuming as I've never seen another living person here besides you, but couldn't separate the two of you while you were so far from its core of power. This by itself isn't that unheard of even though it would spend a massive amount of energy dragging the two of you here, it will do it in cases where one person's dark energy is much higher than a regular person's."

Kagami had to stop his rant, and asked, "So you mean this place can warp reality, but it couldn't push me away from Konata?"

Dylan continued, "I'm getting to that girl, but I haven't had anything interesting happen here in decades so please indulge me, as I believe I'm going to go quite crazy in the next few, and would like something pleasant to look back on. Like I said, it comes down to energy, this place needs tons and tons of energy which it stores at its core, but usually once it draws two people in, it will push the one it has no use for out. Leaving the other broken, as in all cases like this the two people must be incredibly close. I believe in common society, this would be known as "Soul Mates."

Kagami flinched at that wording, and fingered a piece of paper in her pocket she had nearly forgotten about. Dylan did not notice this, and continued his scientific rant, getting more and more excited as he went, "In your case though, it would seem this place isn't strong enough to push you out. This makes no sense, because in order for your Auras to be so closely entwined, you would have been close enough to have already reached the "Resonance" point, and created another fledgling Aura. This process leaves the two Auras involved in the creation nearly completely drained of their energy, and in the process the auras must fuse to become inseparable. At this point, the darkness of this place would never attempt to draw both auras in because no Auras would have enough energy left over to recover the loss."

Kagami interrupted again, "So this place pulled us in, even though it has no use for us?"

Dylan answered, "At this point it seems that way, but that's in stark contrast to everything I've ever seen from this place acting like an intelligent parasite. In the rare cases where people who shouldn't be here wander in because of different factors I've barely even begun to understand, this place just pushes them out. A person can reject the path laid out by this place by spending their energy to exercise their will over mindless parasite tendencies of this place, but once again, the energy cost of that is great, and shouldn't be able to happen except in two cases. One is called Pseudo-Resonance, where you become so closely connected to another person's aura that you can read it flawlessly, usually these cases are best friends, and the bonds are developed over years and years of exposure. Even so, you would need to be connected to hundreds of other Auras before the payoff became even. The second is the rituals that the Order performs for gathering energies in specific ways. They can use massive amounts of this place's energy under the right conditions, but I've only ever seen them use it to change the natural pattern of an Aura, I doubt they would have used so much to drawn in two random girls."

Kagami's head felt like it was going to implode from the sudden intake of information. It wasn't that she didn't understand what the man was saying, it was just so unlike anything else she had ever studied before. She could kind of see why a scientist would get excited about this place. Especially if there was a possibility of being able to use the energy accumulated in this place for the good of everyone. Still, that piece of paper in her pocket felt like a weight, and she couldn't ignore it any longer as she pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper she had found on a dress shop window earlier. Back then it had seemed like rambling, but now it was starting to make sense.

Kagami handed the page over, and said quietly, "Here. I think this is yours."

The man was surprised as he uncrumpled it, and began reading. Kagami couldn't help but notice what little color the scientist had left drained as he read. Then he said very quietly, almost a whisper, "Girl...where did you find this?"

Kagami answered, "I found it on the window of a shop in the town above. It was like something was leading me to it. Then I got attacked, and I just kept it without thinking. That was right before I met Johnson and met James again."

"Johnson!?" Dylan nearly shouted causing Kagami to twitch back from him, remembering there was still a possibility this man could prove himself to be dangerous. Kagami noticed all the shadows scurrying back from them as if afraid of the sudden flood of anger from the man, and Kagami prepared herself to do the same thing if necessary.

He shouted, "I should have known that fossil was still alive, and probably still killing children, but then ...Oh no..."

The man paused, and suddenly his voice went hoarse as he spoke back up, "You said you came here with someone named...Konata?"

Kagami backed away, but slowly nodded at him.

He asked, sounding devastated, "Konata...Izumi...like, a little girl from Japan?"

Kagami nodded again as she felt butterflies suddenly churning in her stomach. Johnson had known Konata, Johnson had wanted to find her, and this man knew her too? Something was seriously wrong, and Kagami had a sudden feeling that she needed to be with Konata right then. A part of her could feel her Otaku breaking, just like she had known she would feel if Konata was seriously in danger.

Dylan fell to his knees, and Kagami was surprised to see tears streaming from the man's eyes. He looked broken, as he whispered, "Oh no...no no no...god no...I'm so sorry. I thought he had gotten away, I thought Johnson was starting over, and at the very least she would be safe."

Kagami hated this man talking about Konata like he knew her, and said more fiercely than she had intended, and actually fiercely enough that the shadowy monsters around them all set to quivering, and averting their gazes from the two, "What do you know about Konata!? What do you know about anything she's suffered through!? Do you know why all the bad things happen to her? Is it your fault? She's been hurt so much, and she was finally getting better until this place happened, now she's breaking again, and I can feel it. If you know something, then tell me!"

Kagami swallowed a lump in her throat, she wasn't said, she was frustrated to the point where she was about to shed tears at her own inability to help the blue haired girl she loved. Dylan had gone silent, and he finally answered, "If she's been summoned here, then Johnson was desperate. Her parents took part in a ritual here some years ago. That was the first time I realized Johnson was crazy, no I realized before then, but I blinded myself to it in the name of discovery, and science, I bought his spiel about how sacrifice was necessary. I tried to leave, tried to report him, and blow the whole thing wide open no matter how crazy I sounded, but he found me. I had thought he killed me, I certainly remember dying-"

"SAY WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY!" Kagami screamed, and the figures all around them began screeching agitatedly. Kagami could _feel_ Konata, she needed the Tsundere to be there, and Kagami couldn't do anything.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the brownish figures slowly making their way to the fronts of the crowds all around them, there were hundreds of them, some carrying small knives covered in old dried blood. They looked almost like children. Some of the unarmed ones were pacing back and forth, occasionally stopping to wrap their arms lovingly around the slightly smaller misty creatures.

Kagami realized that all the whispering she had dully been aware of had stopped, and knew these things wanted nothing more than for the two humans to leave. She felt a touch on her leg, and nearly fell over when one of the knife wielding ones gripped her calf with one hand.

* * *

><p><em>They were all lined up, raggedly clothed, and half starved,<em>

_but Johnson stood in front of the whole cafeteria. He spoke of faith,_

_He spoke of true strength born from it, and they all listened,_

_the ones who came back got food, they got water,_

_they were never locked away, and the ones that managed to_

_grow stronger the ones that managed to assert their will over the dark,_

_the ones who were truly faithful were worshiped slightly below Johnson._

_Johnson was the only father they had ever known,_

_Johnson was the only role model they ever had,_

_The only others were the tormentors._

_They watched through the hole in the wall of every cell._

_They came when you were bad, and sometimes you didn't_

_ever come back._

_There were three holes, and all the children lined up in front of them, _

_knowing most likely none of them would ever come out._

_Either way, it would be better than rotting in the cells, listening to the water drip,_

_watching their cell mates turn into dirty, smelly lumps._

_They marched into the holes, one after another_

_Everything was silent as they crawled towards a white light._

_When they emerged, there was nothing but pain_, _and then darkness_

_Forever._

* * *

><p>Kagami's tears leaked out, and she realized that Dylan was surrounded by the knife wielding ones now, while the one at her legs, let her go, and began shambling over to the scientist who cried pitiful apologies to Kagami.<p>

He said quietly after a moment of silence, "Even now, they're still loyal to Johnson. He's still the only father they've ever had. They'll do anything to receive his love. Even if it means getting rid of me. Girl, I don't know who you are, but you're obviously important to Konata. I can never make up for what I've done, and I've known that for a long time, but please, please take care of her. She's suffered too much because of power hungry fools."

With that the first knife fell in his shoulder, and Dylan cried out. Kagami just watched, unable to do anything. Another knife in the chest, another in the knees, and Dylan was screaming as they took him apart. Not aiming for anything, just randomly stabbing. Kagami took a step towards him, but froze when all of the little creatures rigidly snapped in her direction, and she felt a message of some sort.

_Don't interfere._

Then Kagami began running. There was nothing she could do for Dylan, maybe he didn't deserve to be saved, but Kagami knew if she could have, she would have saved him. Even if he was responsible for Konata's suffering somehow, if Konata, that sweet little Otaku could forgive the people who inflicted such suffering and hurt on her, then Kagami had no right to go against it. She would never insult Konata like that despite her own personal feelings.

For now though, she had to help Konata, she had to get there in time to save her beloved. Even if she couldn't do anything, even if she was just a burden on Konata because she was so weak, Kagami had to be there for her angel. Kagami ran with everything she had in her.

* * *

><p>Kagami burst from the thick sludge gasping for breath. The ooze stuck to her as she fought her arms above the surface a waded a step towards the cement walkway of the sewer. The mist broke around her as she fought. The sinewy strands attached to her tores as she pulled herself up, and Kagami felt them tear, and shuddered as she thought each snap of the muscled veiny material dragging her down reminded her of when she had taken Konata's virginity.<p>

Kagami rolled onto the cement, and forced herself to stand as the last of the viscous fluid left her body, not even staining her clothes, but leaving her soaking wet, as she screamed, "I'm coming Konata! Just hang on Baby!"

That ooze had been all over her, sucking, and trying to absorb her like so many of the corpses lying in it, and Kagami felt utterly _violated_. Despite this, she began running down the sewer line, not knowing if she was going the right, but _believing_ the way she was going would lead to her love.

* * *

><p>Konata drug the knife slowly through the skin on her arm, just the very tip, leaving a trail of blood. It would be so easy, just one quick swipe, and nobody would have to worry about her anymore. Maybe Kagami could even focus on getting out of this place if she wasn't around to screw everything up. Maybe if she was better, she could have actually been a mother. Maybe now her life really was worthless.<p>

Kagami could pick so many people who were so much better than Konata. She could pick someone who actually deserved her. Maybe she'd like Misao or something. Misakichi would definitely never hurt Kagami the ways that Konata had. She would have taken care of Kagami no matter what.

Konata dug a little deeper, and the blood spilled freely from her arms as she slowly drug it down, nearing her wrist, when suddenly.

_I'm coming Konata! Just hang on Baby!_

Konata screamed as she pulled the knife out of her arm, and threw it across the room, looking at it like it was a demon. She scampered on her hands and knees across the room into the furthest corner she could find away from the knife for the time being. She thought over and over about how she could be so stupid, and selfish. How she could even consider leaving Kagami alone in this place. How she could consider hurting all the people that had come to care about her, and adopted her as family.

She imagined Tadao holding Miki at her own funeral, and Matsuri and Tsukasa crying in each others arms while Inori tried to hold it together to be strong for her little sisters, and Kagami growing to hate her for giving up so easily years later, and becoming a bitter shell of her beautiful self. Konata fought the urge to vomit as she realized how close she had come to hurting her family.

She would never insult them by throwing away the life they had all helped her build, and resolved to not let this place get to her anymore. Konata tore the short sleeve off of her Robot Unicorn t-shirt, and wrapped it tightly around her wounded arm even as her shoulder ached dully from the injury she had taken from the big lizard in the theater.

She stood up shakily, and clutched her flashlight tightly, before glancing at the knife in the corner. Konata decided she would leave it, she had proven she couldn't be trusted to have it, and stepped outside of the small supply closet glancing in every direction for the enemy that had chased her and Jacob into the small room, and not daring to turn the flashlight on quite yet.

The Otaku shut the door behind her, she resolved that she needed to find Jacob as fast as she possibly could, she had wasted far too much time feeling sorry for herself, and now she needed to focus on what was important, like finding, Jacob, Kagami, and Katahaba, and getting the hell out of this place.

She took a step forward, and squeaked quietly when there was a sudden crackling noise all around her as the PA system turned on. Then followed a deep gravelly voice.

_Little Miss Konata Izumi, please come to the delivery room. We have much to talk about._

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Sorry this took over half a year to get out. I've been really busy with work guys, I just hardly have time for writing at all anymore. I have no intention of dropping this story, but updated will be monthly at best, but most of them will probably take three to four months, and maybe even as long as this last update has taken if I don't get any time to write. Thank you all so much for continuing to read my story, i appreciate every second you spend on it, and hope i haven't wasted your time. All criticisms and possible improvements are always welcome, so thank you all again, and I'm looking forward to next time.<em><br>_


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